Love by Photograph
by homosexual undertones
Summary: Misunderstandings make the world go 'round, especially when they involve someone doing something extremely stupid. Sexting? Isn't that illegal? Arthur and Alfred don't seem to notice. Neither do their brothers. So when your best friend suddenly isn't the best anymore, what are you to do? Since you can't get him… why not try his brother? ON TEMPORARY HIATUS
1. Say Cheese!

**A/N: DefineSugar, forwardtable, and I, homosexual undertones, started writing this a year ago yesterday. It kinda starts out crackish but it gets more serious as it goes on. We have a lot of it written so it'll be updated every 8 days. 'Cuz 7 is too regular.**

**Anyway, we absolutely love this story to death. We hope you'll love it too!**

**WARNING: These characters are _our headcanons_. You've probably seen these characters portrayed differently. Alright. Just take a minute to see our way.  
****Allistor - 19 - Scotland  
****Connor - 18 - Northern Ireland  
****Dylan - 17 - Wales  
****Arthur - 16 - England  
****Peter - 8 - Sealand  
****Alfred - 16 - America**

**One last thing: in the US it is illegal to share naked pictures of yourself or anyone else who is under 18. Don't do it.**

* * *

Arthur could do nothing but stare at his e-mail at three o'clock in the morning. It made his heart beat faster just looking at the sender. The message was from Alfred, one of his closest friends.

There was an attachment to the e-mail, and by the preview offered, Arthur could tell he needed to be alone when he opened it otherwise his mum would kill him and that is explicitly why Alfred wrote the words "_READ THIS NOOOOOW! OR I'LL DIEEE!_" Pssht. What a friend. Writing that to make him get in trouble.

Anyway, that wasn't the point. The point was the attachment; the pictures it contained. They made Arthur stare at the screen blankly, unable to form coherent thoughts. It was the first time he had seen pictures like that, though he would never dream of revealing his inexperience to a single living soul.

The shock wore off, causing him to quickly close the email, his face flushing with embarrassment and then anger. He wasn't ready for that! Totally unprepared! It wasn't like he didn't like them, but he couldn't admit to Alfred that he did. He clicked reply, his finger forceful on the mouse with his rising tension, but stopped and visibly deflated as he realized he had no idea how to respond to Alfred.

"If I tell him I don't like them, it'll hurt his self esteem and he'll hate me," he whispered to himself in an attempt to gather his thoughts. He was out of breath from the stress. "But I can't tell him I like them, he'll think I'm some kind of pervert! Which I'm not! Why is he doing this _now?_ What do I say? What do I do?" If possible, his face darkened as a realization hit him. "Is he expecting something in return?!"

These thoughts overwhelmed the hormone-ridden teen and his face fell forward and hit the keyboard. Several minutes passed before he dared look back at the screen. His forehead had written gibberish in the reply and in his effort to erase it, Arthur, tech-savvy as he was, accidentally hit send. He sighed. He didn't even want to see what he had sent to Alfred. He just sat there, his face on his desk again, cursing to himself. He only looked up when he heard the familiar series of beeps indicating a new message. He clicked on it, seeing that it was from Alfred. He started reading out loud to himself, not noticing one of his older brothers walking in.

"'Well does that mean you're speechless? Winky face_._'"

"Arthur," he jumped at his own name being whispered in his ear, "what is that supposed to mean? Hmm? Something bad, huh? I knew it was only a matter of time before you started doing things like _that_." Arthur whirled around and shot his older brother, Allistor, a deadly glare.

"What are you doing in my room?" He demanded, standing up to cover the screen. The soft glow of the computer wasn't enough for Allistor to spot the redness of his cheeks.

"Oh, I just came to check on you. It's late so I was wondering what you could possibly be doing on the computer alone in the dark." He gave Arthur a mischievous grin and walked calmly to the door. As he left, he threw one last sentence over his shoulder. "Well, I'll be in the kitchen, eating your last strawberry scone." He was out of sight before Arthur had the chance to defend his beloved store-bought snack, but it was too dangerous to yell and risk waking up his little brother, Peter, who shared a room with him. He would never even think of leaving his computer alone with another two brothers who could easily have overheard the conversation and take a look while he was downstairs. No, not worth it. If they found out… he couldn't even imagine what torment his brothers would put him through for weeks, maybe even months. So he stayed put and clicked the reply button once more. _No more thinking out loud. I can't let any of them figure out this secret. How should I reply? I _am_ speechless, but… oh I don't know! Why does this thing have to be so hard?_

He awkwardly typed out an explanation and reread it carefully, not wanting another misunderstanding. _I'm over thinking this. I can't deal with it now. I'm tired anyway. I'll just tell him I'm going to bed. I'm not rejecting him; it's his fault for putting me in this situation! _

He erased what he had previously written and replaced it with a short "I'm tired, going to sleep now, see you later" and turned off his computer. It was pitch black, but he managed to find the door, shut it, and make his way over to his bed, only tripping once, and by some miracle kept his curses quiet enough to not disturb his baby brother. Once he got to his bed and laid down he immediately fell into a deep sleep, experiencing a rather odd dream.

* * *

_Arthur was walking down the street when he bumped into a rather tall man._

"_Oops, I'm sorry," he said, trying to walk around the large male. Suddenly, a car drove up beside Arthur and he was shoved inside, a hand over his mouth. A blindfold was put over his eyes. He tried to get away from his captor, but he found he was no match for the man who held him. He sighed and stopped struggling after what felt like forever._

"_Turn left here," said someone sitting in front of him with a thick accent. He assumed they were driving on a very curvy road because the car kept swerving back and forth._

_Eventually the vehicle came to a stop and he was hoisted out into the cool air. It was colder here than where he was before. He was brought into a building and slammed on the floor. A sharp pain bloomed in his left shoulder._

"_We brought him, Sir. What would you like us to do with him?" Arthur twitched at the familiar voice of who had spoken._

"_Leave him there. I will take care of him." Arthur gasped. He had never heard his best friend speak so coldly. There were the sounds of heavy footsteps receding and a door closing. Fear swept through Arthur, causing his heart to race and blood to pound through his veins faster and faster. He was sure the other person would be able to hear it._

_He jumped when he heard a voice just a few inches from his face. He hadn't heard him approach. "I'm sorry it's come to this, Arthur, but you've given me no choice. You didn't like my pictures, you ignored me, you _betrayed_ me, I cannot forgive you. It is because of your rudeness, your inconsiderateness, your indolence, that you must pay the price. I will not let you leave here. You hurt me, now it's my turn to hurt you." All through his monologue, this dark Alfred seemed to lean closer, and closer, and closer, until their lips met forcefully and-_

"ARTHUR!" Arthur sat up quickly, making himself dizzy. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. "Finally, it was nearly impossible to wake you up. Come on and get up already, mum wants us to come along to the airport with her to say goodbye to dad. He's going on a business trip for two weeks, 'member?" Arthur looked around and noticed all four of his brothers occupying his room. Peter and Dylan were standing next to his bed. They had been the ones who tried to wake him up. Allistor was leaning against the door to his room, looking at Arthur disapprovingly.

What Arthur thought was odd was the fact that his other brother, Connor, was on his computer, motioning for Allistor to come over to look.

"Oh, what have we here, Arthur? Naughty things on your computer, huh?" Allistor was looking over Connor's shoulder, smirking a bit. Dylan glanced over at the screen, slapped himself, looked at Arthur with an annoyed look, and pulled Peter out of the room, closing the door behind them. It took Arthur a minute to realize what his brothers were talking about. Then his face turned bright red in anger and embarrassment.

"What the hell are you doing looking through my e-mail, let alone my computer?!" he said, screaming at the top of his lungs and lunging towards his computer chair. He started by ripping out the plug to his computer, then attacking Connor by pulling the chair out from under him. Before he could get any further, he was lifted from behind by Allistor, who was gripping the back of his shirt in one hand and a flash drive in the other.

"Calm down, little brother. Do you see what I have here?" He waved the small device just out of Arthur's reach and put it safely in his back pocket.

"How did you get on my computer and email, they both have passwords! Leave my stuff alone!" He struggled until he was released suddenly, causing him to stumble forward. He turned around to face the two snoopers and just stood there, fuming. He decided it would be better not to attack again for two reasons: One, he didn't want to anger his oldest brother enough that he would show someone the contents of his email, and two, Connor and Allistor were two and three years older than him, respectively, and both much stronger than he was. There was no doubt who would win in a fight, not to mention it was two against one. Arthur had learned this numerous times the hard way.

"You need to stop making your passwords so obvious," Connor tutted, shaking his head. "Really, you're favorite band and food?" Connor snickered, walked over to the door, opened it and took one more glance over his shoulder before leaving.

"You better behave or you don't know who will see this, starting with mum and dad, then perhaps your whole school," Allistor said before following suit after his younger brother.

He stopped before walking out of the door and said, "Be downstairs in five minutes, dressed and ready. We're leaving after breakfast. See ya." He walked out of the room arrogantly. Arthur took a minute to let what just happened sink in, then got dressed quickly and walked out of his room with anger.

* * *

"Mummy, I'm hungry! What are we having for dinner?" Peter whined, bored and starving.

"I'm exhausted, so make one of your brothers cook you something," his mother said from the couch, her voice hoarse from yelling at her four teenagers all day. They had just gotten home from a long day of traveling to the airport, attending Dylan's soccer tournament, and then shopping. Their mother had no more energy left to make food.

Peter ran up to their room, almost tripping in the process. He shouted Arthur's name at least ten times, but Arthur wasn't listening. He had the door locked and was trying to talk Alfred out of video chatting with him. He was still a little uncomfortable from what had happened last night and he didn't want Alfred to accidentally find out anything he wanted to keep hidden.

_Cmoncmoncmon man dude bro my chikn wing lets get videoing! Cmon cmon whatre u wauting for?! i hve 2 tell u sumthn!_, Arthur read from Alfred, careful not to say it aloud. He probably couldn't have read it out loud either. The spelling mistakes were too much to handle.

"Arthur! Arthur, Arthur!"

He replied to his friend: _No, I can't right now. I have a lot of homework I forgot to do._ That seemed good, so he hit send and leaned back in his chair. Of course he didn't really forget his homework; he did all of it (including the essay that was due on Wednesday) right after school on Friday. There was no such thing as procrastination in his mind.

"Arthur! Arthur! Arthur! Arthur!"

He sat back up and clicked on the inbox link. As the page loaded his heart beat faster. _Oh goodness, am I really doing this?_

"Arthur, let me in! I need you!"

The page loaded and he looked at his received e-mails. Actually, he didn't have a look just yet. Arthur covered his eyes and aimed his face at the floor. _I can't look at these again, can I? What if Alfred finds out? Wouldn't he think me weird?_

"Arthur! Aaaaaaaarthur!"

Arthur decided to peek. Just one teensy weensy peek. Yeah. Then he'd take a nap.

He removed one hand from his face and glanced at the screen long enough to click on the e-mail from Alfred. As soon as he confirmed his mouse button worked, he replaced his hand. _Coward._

"Arrrrrthuuuuuuur! Hey! Let me in!"

Arthur let out a little gasp and clutched his heart out of fear. "D-did somebody call me?"

"I did! Arthur, I've been yelling at you for hours now! Let me in, let me in!"

"Okay," Arthur said, walking to his door. "I'll let you in, but what do you want?"

Peter made a face as the door opened and his least favorite brother entered his view. "It's my room, too! And mum said you had to make me dinner!" He crossed his arms and stared at his brother.

"Ugh, fine. What do you want?" Arthur stepped out of his room and carefully shut the door. "Scratch that, I'm making you an omelette."

"An omelette?! For dinner?"

"Yes, an omelette, now get down to the kitchen and help me or I won't make you anything."

* * *

Allistor was just leaving his room when he heard a conversation down the hall.

"An omelette?! For dinner?" The annoying voice of his eight year old brother got on his nerves, even if he wasn't the one being whined at.

"Yes, an omelette, now get down to the kitchen and help me or I won't make you anything." The unmistakable sound of a door closing could be heard, giving Allistor an idea. He waited until the two had disappeared down the stairs before he crept to his youngest brothers' bedroom and quietly reclosed the door. An evil smirk twisted his face as he saw the computer Arthur had left unattended. He hadn't even logged off his e-mail. _Careless_, he thought to himself. He stuck his hand inside his jacket to his pocket of wonders, filled with anything one might find useful in unusual situations. He groped around some tweezers, a flashlight, lock picks, a lighter, a pencil, and several other unusual objects until he located his flash drive. The whole situation earlier between him and Arthur had been quite amusing, but it was just for fun. He obviously hadn't had time to save anything to his little memory stick this morning, since it was just about ten seconds between when he saw the elicit pictures and the monitor going dark. Now he had the chance to really make his bluff a reality. Allistor clicked the save button, the eject button, then removed the small but extremely handy device. Now that his mission was complete, he could go back to his room and relax, perhaps even peruse his new treasures.

When he finished in Arthur's room he started back to his own. He came to a sudden realization right before opening his door.

"Oy, Arthur," he yelled, "make me an omelette." He opened the door to his room and walked in just as he heard Arthur reply. He snickered to himself and thought about how Arthur would react if his friends saw these pictures. If he even had any friends. The only friend he knew his brother had was that one dumb blond.

He closed the door and sat down in the dim glow protruding from a small book light on his desk. He plugged in the flash drive to start looking through the pictures. And there was only one thing to say: he liked what he saw.

* * *

**A/N (yes, another one): And so it begins… but is it confusing at all? We can't tell sometimes if things make sense outside our heads 'cause we've just talked about so much it's like a dream where we can't tell if it's real or not (eheh heh). Seriously, if you have any questions drop a review and we'll explain it. Unless it's an inside joke or an oversight. But we'll still try to explain.**

**Or you could just tell us how you feel or what you think about it or what you think might happen.**

**Thank you for reading! ^J^**

**(Also, we accidentally made Peter a little slow for an eight-year old, so we rationalized it with the fact that there are no schools in Sealand.)**


	2. Focus!

**AN: Chapter two. Enjoy the drama!**

* * *

Arthur groaned as he heard the obnoxious alarm clock go off, telling him it was time to get up. He slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed, glancing at the clock. He had a hard time reading it because his eyes were all blurry. When his vision finally cleared up, he took a moment to register what time it was. Arthur panicked, seeing it was 6:45 and school started at 7 o'clock sharp. He rushed while getting dressed, resulting in him having his shirt on inside out and mismatched socks on his feet. He ran downstairs as fast as he could, grabbed an banana off the counter and was almost out the front door when he heard snickering behind him. He warily turned around to see Connor and Allistor sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast, staring at him. He glanced at his watch that he put on upside-down while getting ready and looked back at his two brothers. They had played another prank on him. The little hands read almost six o'clock.

"Did you guys set my clock forward just so you could laugh at me? Did you even consider my feelings? Ugh! You wankers! I hate you!" Right then Peter walked into the room, rubbing his belly slightly, and crying a bit.

"Ar-Arthur, I-I think I'm s-sick."

"What's wrong? Does your stomach hurt?" Arthur set down the fruit and knelt in front of the young boy as he tried to diagnose the problem.

"Well, I've got to get to the café, you can deal with this. Later." Allistor got up and jogged through the front door, obviously trying to avoid any responsibility for Peter.

"Wha-" yawn "-at is it, Peter?" Dylan asked, walking down the last few stairs and scratching his head, his hair bed-ruffled and sticking up at odd angles. Peter shuffled over to his preferred brother, looking distinctly greener than before.

"I don't feel so good," Peter moaned, just before he threw up all over Dylan's lower half.

"Ugh!" Dylan stepped back in surprise and Peter started crying. "It's okay, Peter, don't cry. Go to the bathroom, okay?"

Arthur turned away from the scene and headed out the door, not feeling up to cleaning up sick this early on a Monday morning. Remembering the joke played on him, he chucked the nearest object his hands could grasp-which just so happened to be a rather large set of keys-at Connor and dashed out the door, not even waiting to find out if he had hit his target.

Subsequently he realized that he had forgotten his backpack. So he snuck in through the back door and stole up to his room to fetch his school things. He returned the way he had come, careful on the squeaky stair and went outside his house.

After he had run down his block, subconsciously down the way to Alfred's house, turned around twice, and relieved his bladder in the local stretch of woods, it was around 6:43. He was just two blocks from the school now and he could see the other students congregating around the school premises.

He slowed down to a walk and caught his breath. He was in no danger of being late for school but he decided he better look casual. Eyes on the ground and hands stuffed in pockets.

"Dude! Hey, how are you? I e-mailed you back last night but you never replied," shouted Alfred as he spotted Arthur.

Arthur glanced up and saw his best buddy but immediately turned beet red. "H-hey. What's up?"

"You know. The regular crap." He slung his arm over the shorter boy and looked him over. "Wow, you look lame today. Who dressed you, your mother?"

Arthur glanced down at himself and frowned. No, his mother did not dress him, she didn't even get up until eight AM! On a good day!

"No, I-"

"Yo, it's inside out, lemme help you." Alfred stepped in front of his friend who, being the clumsy boy he was, bumped into him.

Arthur gasped a little and his cheeks felt hot. Apparently Alfred didn't notice because all he did was try to remove Arthur's shirt. He didn't succeed in stripping the boy but he did succeed in manhandling him and knocking off his backpack.

"Hey! Alfred, don't! I don't have anything on under there!" Arthur squirmed but Alfred held him tight.

"No, I've gotta fix this. Hold still or you'll cause a scene."

"_I'll_ cause a scene?! I'm not the one trying to strip another male student on school grounds!" Arthur fumed. He stomped his foot, too, and Alfred let him go.

"Sheesh. I only did it because I didn't want you to look like a dork." Alfred pouted and stepped back to pick up the forgotten backpack.

Arthur groaned. "Hide me," he said, "and let's go over here." They walked over to a small grove of trees and Arthur slowly took his shirt off. He, unaware of his human wall peeking at him, modestly covered his bare chest and turned his shirt right side out.

When he was done he pushed past Alfred and gruffly took his backpack from him.

"I'm sorry, Arthur…" Alfred trailed off behind him, looking grim.

"Yeah, yeah. Apology accepted." Awkwardly, he patted Alfred's back. "Let's go inside."

When they got inside they both went to their first period classroom. Arthur had English Literature first, while Alfred had math. Arthur walked inside his class, making his way over to the empty desk next his friend, Kiku.

"Good morning, Arthur. Did you have a nice weekend?" Kiku smiled warmly at Arthur and moved his things over a little to give Arthur more room.

"I had an okay weekend. Some unexpected and weird things happened that I'd rather not talk about at the moment." He said the last part about weird things quieter than the rest of his sentence. "But overall, it wasn't that bad. What about your weekend?" Arthur always did his best to be a gentleman.

"Mine was fine, thank you. Can we speak during lunch? I have some things to talk to you about, but I don't think we'll have enough time before class starts," he said right before the bell rang.

Arthur could not concentrate through English, math, or even World Studies class. He was distracted, thinking about why Kiku needed to speak to him, but mostly his mind was on Alfred. He knew Alfred was just trying to be nice and help him out earlier, but wasn't it in the wrong way? His face flushed when he started thinking about the incident with the shirt. He didn't want Alfred to see his pale, skinny body while he had a muscular, toned, tan, perfect one. And next period was chemistry! The first class of the day they had together!

Arthur wobbled out of his class as the bell rang, feeling a little lightheaded from all the thinking he had done. He knew his thoughts would be full of Alfred all period, hyperaware of the boy just a few feet away from him. _I can't take that. I'm having a tough enough day already. _Arthur quickly walked to the nurse, deciding to skip class, and approached the lady at the desk. He explained to her that he was lightheaded and wanted to lay down for a little while. If Alfred asked later, he had prepared an excuse.

"Yo! Dude! What are you doing here?" Arthur almost jumped out of his skin when he turned around slowly, only to see Alfred sitting on one of the beds with an icepack to his head.

"I-I was feeling a little light headed. But I'm alright now. I'm feeling much better. So I'll just be going now." Arthur tried to turn away and leave, but Alfred grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Don't you want to know why I'm at the nurse? Well, I was in gym last period, and we were playing baseball. I was just about to get to the next base, but someone threw the ball at me. I ducked, but it hit me in the forehead. It was bleeding and everything!" Alfred was so engrossed in his story he didn't notice the younger boy trying to pry his fingers from their hold around his forearm. Alfred handed the icepack to the nurse and began leading Arthur out of the office. "Since you're okay and I'm okay, let's go back to class together! We're doing a lab today, let's totally be partners! I promise to do some work this time, you don't have to do it all, really, I swear."

Just as Arthur began to resign himself to an awkward thirty-nine minutes, he spotted a restroom with a single toilet.

"I really have to go, you just go on ahead!" He ducked into the small room and shut the door quickly before the other could protest. He waited a few minutes, then made his way to the library, intending to skip class and think of some way he could fix his awkward misunderstanding with Alfred.

Once there, he sat down at an empty table and took out the new essay he had been assigned a few periods ago.

"Excuse me, is that your book?" a quiet boy asked him, gesturing towards an abandoned paperback to his left.

"Hey Heracles, no, that's not mine," Arthur responded distractedly, handing it to said boy but letting go a little too early, inadvertently allowing it to fall to the floor with a loud _thunk_. As he instinctively bent down to retrieve it, so did Heracles. They bumped their heads together painfully.

"Ow, sorry," the taller boy said, sitting down and rubbing the top of his head, chocolate waves mussed.

"No, no. It's okay. It was my fault too." The boys both looked at each other and smiled.

These few moments of awkward staring kind of creeped Arthur out. He asked a little stiffly, "So, what did you do this weekend?"

Heracles replied after a minute of what looked like intense thinking. "Oh, nothing much, I just-"

He was cut off by a sudden flow of students entering the library, who, for the most part, chattered obnoxiously. "Over to the Arts room. Don't wander anywhere and no dillydallying!" a woman, presumably the teacher of the students, called.

"Pardon?" Arthur raised his voice to be heard amongst the noise, "I couldn't hear."

"I said I got-"

"Wait, let me guess," a new boy interrupted, sauntering over to the two, "you got a new pussy, didn't you?"

Heracles glanced at this newcomer with annoyance. "Sadiq," he said, "go away. This isn't any of your business." He turned away from the boy, Sadiq, and proceeded to tell Arthur about his weekend once more. Arthur, uncomfortable, listened with as much attentiveness as he could muster but found it hard with someone so intimidating standing right next to him. He saw the boy move a little closer to Heracles.

Of course, Sadiq had to butt in again. He swiveled Heracles' chair around, which was a very hard task because the chair was neither rolly nor swively, and thrust his face close to the other boy's. "When I'm talking to you, you don't ignore me." Heracles decided to do quite the opposite of this and turned his face the other way to continue to speak to Arthur.

"And the kitten I got is a mix. She's a mix between an Angora and-"

"I said when I'm talking to you, you DON'T IGNORE ME!" Sadiq grabbed Heracles' chin and twisted his face forward. Their eyes were inches away from each other, their mouths by just barely a few centimeters. If he had wanted to, Heracles could have licked his captor. But he didn't lick Sadiq. He kissed him.

To Arthur it seemed like the kiss wasn't on purpose. He thought he spotted a person hurriedly walking away from the scene, probably the girl who pushed Sadiq. If he felt awkward before, it was nothing compared to now. This kiss between Sadiq and Heracles was lasting entirely too long. He cleared his throat. No answer, not even a little movement to show that they heard him. He took this as his sign to blow this pop stand and leave the two in some peace. He packed up his stuff and left the library as quietly as he could.

Arthur aimlessly wandered the corridors until the next period started, which was lunch. He walked right past Alfred, although he didn't notice, and into the lunchroom, packed with ravenous teens. He slipped by them and out the other door. He made his way over to where Kiku always liked to sit during lunch. It was a nice secluded area under a large maple tree in the courtyard. As he approached the spot, he saw Kiku sitting next to the tree with his legs pulled up to his chest, his small arms wrapped around them.

"Hi Kiku, it's a beautiful day today to eat lunch out here." Kiku slowly raised his head, smiling at Arthur in a friendly manner.

"Yes indeed. Well…um…uhh… about what I wanted to talk to you about…" Arthur walked over and plopped himself down next to Kiku. Maybe a little too close, because poor Kiku started to blush.

"Yeah? What is it?" Arthur sniffed the air, taking in the wonderful smell of the outdoors. The slight scent of school lunch made his stomach growl. He looked around, then dug his hand into his bag, searching for a snack. He was confused for a moment, then remembered his morning. He sighed. He would just have to wait until he got home.

"Well," Kiku started, looking at Arthur. Then he took out a ripe looking plum and handed it to Arthur. "Here," he continued, "you look hungry." Arthur grasped the small dark fruit thankfully and took a tiny bite out of it, surprised that it was actually sweet.

"Thank you. So what were you saying again? I'm terribly sorry for interrupting you." He looked around once more, still taking in the beauty that surrounded him. He admired the fluttering petals blowing off the nearby cherry blossom trees that enveloped them in a pink blur.

"It's okay. And I have something important to say to you, so I'm hoping that you will listen," he said.

"Yeah. Go on, we're friends, right?"

"Well… It's just…um…" Kiku was stuttering a bit, and Arthur couldn't help but notice the light blush flourishing on his friend's face. "Um… you see," he tried to continue, but couldn't seem to get the words out. Arthur watched as Kiku awkwardly poked his fingers together, trying to come up with the courage to say whatever he was about to.

His head held low, he mumbled, "I-I'd just l-like to say that I-"

"Hey Arthur! Where were you, dude? I've been looking for you everywhere!" Alfred jogged over to the tree Arthur and Kiku were sitting under. Arthur paled. He still hadn't thought of how to respond if Alfred brought up the topic of the pictures. Especially if he mentioned it in front of Kiku! "I want to eat lunch with you!" That being said, he sat down heavily and shoved food into his mouth, talking all the while. The two beside him were silent, but he didn't seem to notice. Kiku's face stayed a light reddish color and he stared at his hands most of the time. Arthur fidgeted while listening, silently praying he wasn't required to speak.

The period ended, and the three separated to go to the last class of the day.

"Wait, hold on a second," Alfred said, grabbing Arthur's arm as the courtyard quickly emptied. "About the other night-" Arthur's heart began to race and he jerked his arm out of the other's grip.

"What about it? It doesn't matter." Arthur turned away. "It's not like anything happened."

"But…"

Arthur spun around and glared at Alfred's stooped figure. "What? I said nothing happened! It's not like- it's not like-" he stopped himself. _What am I doing? Why am I so angry all of a sudden?_ His eyes lowered, mimicking the pose of the boy opposite. "Let's," his voice cracked, "let's just get to class." He cleared his throat, "we're probably late." He motioned for Alfred to follow but he stayed put. "S-see you later, then." He sprinted away.

The rest of Arthur's day passed fairly quickly, and he found himself standing at the front door to his house. He made his way to the kitchen to find a snack, but all the good ones were gone. _Oh yeah,_ he thought. _That jerk ate my scone!_ There was a half eaten chocolate pudding in the fridge so he grabbed that instead, took it up to his room, and commenced with the torture that is homework. The rest of the night and the next few days passed relatively normally, but solemnly. The memories of Alfred's pictures and the conversation that followed never strayed too far from his mind.

* * *

**AN: Ohoho, did you like it? We hope the characters don't seem too different from what you expect. But eh, what can ya do?**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing! And remember, just eight more days!**


	3. Exposure to the Light

**A/N: First off, we'd like to dedicate this chapter to any of you who took the AP Language and Composition exam today. That also goes for any AP this week. But remember, don't say a word about it or the AP ninjas will get you! ;P **

**Second, ENJOY YOUR READING!**

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny spring afternoon. The skies were clear and birds were chirping merrily up in their cozy trees. Alfred sighed. His mind was nowhere near as calm as his surroundings. Depressing thoughts kept swirling around his head, not giving him a moment of peace. _Why did Arthur get so mad at me? Did he really hate the email I sent him? I thought he would like it; I didn't mean to make him hate me! He won't stop being my friend, right? Everything will be alright and we'll be best buds forever. We have to. I'll talk to him tomorrow._

Alfred was walking home from school after being cleverly avoided yet again. Arthur had said he had to do a big project for history so he couldn't hang out. He wouldn't even let Alfred walk him home. When they were in class together he had barely said anything.

Suddenly not feeling like going home, Alfred headed toward a nearby café. He figured some coffee in his system would perk him up a little. _There's nothing like caffeine when you're unfocused_. A little chocolate cake never hurt either.

The café was small but not cramped, providing the perfect relaxing atmosphere. There was a fair amount of people inside, chatting and snacking away, but there were still plenty of empty tables.

From the multitude of available tables, he chose a small one by a window. The seat was worn and there were carvings in the table and wooden wall next to it. One that caught his eye said _first date, last date, forever here in my heart 10/3/10 - 10/3/11_. This lachrymose reminder certainly dampened his mood and gave him a vicious idea.

_Why should I talk and make up with him? I mean, I don't even know _why_ he got so angry. Argh, it's always me who forgives him even if I don't know _why_ I'm forgiving him! Why do I do that? I think I won't this time. For a while at least. Maybe-_

"Whaddya want?" a bored voice droned, interrupting him from his thoughts.

Alfred looked away from the table and toward the waiter. "Excuse me?"

"Ahem," he said, "how may I help you?" The man clicked his pen and waved his pad of paper.

"Oh, um," Alfred glanced at the man's nametag. Allistor. _What a nice name. I feel like I know someone whose_-

The man, no, Allistor, cleared his throat again. "Ready to order?"

"I guess." He looked at Allistor's name tag a second time to make sure. It still said Allistor. "I'll have a coffee, please. And a piece of double-extra-super-chocoholic-eat-this-and-have-a- sugar-coma cake. Make that two pieces, please, _Allistor_," he requested, feeling sly.

Allistor snorted. "Sure, sure. Whatever you want, _Alfred._" He walked off, leaving the high school student stunned at the knowledge of his name.

Allistor walked back to the kitchen, thinking about the boy. He had immediately recognized him as Arthur's friend, as he had slept over many times over the years.

"I need a coffee and two orders of chocolate cake," he said loudly to the kitchen staff. He turned around and stood outside the door, waiting for the order. He gazed lazily around the café, eyes drawn toward Alfred. Looking closer, he saw the boy staring out the window, seemingly deep in thought. The troubled look in his eyes pulled on one of his rarely used heart strings. _Damn it, he's Arthur's friend, and he looks like he's just about ready to stand in front of a speeding truck._ He silently cursed his usually hidden conscience, making the decision to speak to the boy, if only so that he wouldn't be woken by hysterical crying during the night with Arthur's emotional distress at the death of a friend. _He's not that bad looking, though._

"What?" a confused voice called from behind the kitchen doors after a delayed reaction. A _really _delayed reaction.

"Nothing," he huffed. "I'll get it myself." He was too lazy to get a clean cup _and _pour coffee into it, not to mention he had to put _two_ pieces of cake on _two_ separate plates, but it would be much more work trying to convince the hardworking kitchen boy to do his job for him.

Allistor returned to the table balancing a tray in his left hand. He placed two cups and two plates on the table and left the tray on the chair next to him. He then sat down opposite Alfred, surprising him.

"What are you doing?" Alfred asked, confusion written all over his face.

"My shift's over in five minutes, so there's no use in me standing around waiting for it to end. Might as well sit. This is yours," he said, pushing a steaming cup toward the blond.

"Oh." Alfred scrunched up his face as he took a sip of the hot liquid. "This isn't coffee!"

"I know. It's hot chocolate. You shouldn't drink coffee this late in the afternoon. You won't be able to sleep later. So don't complain." The tone he used was strict, the same tone he often used when ordering his brothers around. Then, quite hypocritically, he sipped the other cup, which held steaming black coffee. It wasn't decaf.

"Hey, you're-" Alfred started, thinking. "You're Arthur's brother." For some reason his face saddened as he said the name.

"Yeah. Why the long face? You don't seem too happy. In fact, you look near suicidal. Why's that?" The other boy's eyes dulled as he got lost in his thoughts, so Allistor took the opportunity to pull a slice of cake toward himself and bring a forkful up to his mouth.

That did the trick. Alfred's eyes had unknowingly followed the journey of his former cake. "That's mine," he protested weakly. He wasn't really in the mood for a sugar rush.

"You want it back?" He opened his mouth so the clump of brownish-black stuff that might have been cake was exposed. Alfred smiled. This level of immaturity was something he could relate to.

He pretended to gag anyway. "Dude, whoa, gross. That's so not mature."

Allistor closed his mouth and swallowed the mess. "Like you wouldn't do it too." He sipped his coffee to wash it down. "Eat your cake. I made it with blood, sweat, and tears."

"Really?"

"No, it's store bought."

Alfred giggled. This guy was kind of funny. He wondered why he hadn't hung out with him before.

"So, why're you here all alone? On a Friday night, no less."

Alfred's smile dimmed, but it wasn't entirely ruined. "Oh, yeah. About that…" He looked at Allistor sheepishly and placed his hands on the table. "Um, you wouldn't be interested. Never mind." Alfred's unwillingness to share only increased the redhead's curiosity.

"Come on, what is it? You can't tell someone there's something they don't know and just leave them hanging! You're so cruel," he fake whined, hoping the childish antics would persuade him to open up.

It was working. "I kinda… well, I had some pictures and… forget that. I ended up pushing away someone close to me and now I don't know if we're still friends." Alfred stood up abruptly from the table and headed toward the door, not in the mood for idle chitchat or sweet desserts.

"Hey wait, you-" Allistor yelled at him, "forgot to pay," he finished quietly as the door closed behind Alfred. _I'll just cover it for now and take the money out of Arthur's wallet later. Wait, pictures? No, couldn't be. _Allistor's cheeks reddened slightly, thinking of his blackmail material. He didn't use it just for blackmail though. To him, it was another kind of material.

* * *

Allistor looked at his wristwatch and ran inside the break room to clock out of his shift. He quickly changed out of his uniform, which he thought was a little too tight around certain areas, then grabbed his jacket and sprinted out of the café.

He arrived home at 3:30, too late for lunch, but too early for dinner. Allistor wasn't hungry anyway, so when he walked in the door he had the urge to go upstairs and relax a bit. There were a few things he wanted to do before his mother got home from work. He strolled through the kitchen and into the living room, stopping for a minute to watch Peter bug Arthur to no end.

"Arthur, Arthur, Arthur!" Peter shouted while slightly bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Play with me! Arthuuur! Come on! I want to play and Dylan's busy! Pleeeeeease?" Allistor noticed Arthur was desperately trying to ignore the younger boy by watching the TV. He noted that Arthur had a big bag of potato chips, a small tub of ice cream, and a piece of cheesecake. Allistor smirked a little at how much Arthur looked like one of those women on the television that had just been dumped. He also noticed how it was hard for Arthur to ignore Peter's kicked puppy face. He figured he didn't need to see any more of that so he made his way to the old staircase, accidentally bumping into Connor.

"'Sup bro? Ya look like you're in a hurry to get to your room." Connor grinned. Allistor looked past his younger brother, annoyed, and tried to figure out how much force he would have to use to push him out of his way. "Did you get in trouble and are you trying to get away from mum? Or… What are you gonna do in your room, eh?" he asked, raising his eyebrows to suggest something. Allistor groaned, thinking about how he could possibly be related to this idiot. He decided to shove his way past Connor, walked up the stairs, and proceeded down the long hallway toward his bedroom, slowing his pace a little when he passed Arthur's, but didn't stop completely until he was safely away from his obnoxious family and in his own quarters.

Once he was inside his room, door locked of course, he threw his stuff down and flopped onto his bed.

"Been such a long day."

Allistor sat up and glanced at the computer. "Might as well relax a little." He got off his bed and sat on his comfy rolly chair. Nothing like a nice chair after a hard day of standing 'round the café.

He turned the computer on and after a moment the log in screen popped up. He typed in a ridiculously long password, somewhere around twenty-five characters, and waited for it to be verified. It was. He knew it like the back of his hand.

He quickly double-clicked his favorite game's icon and typed another ridiculously long password. "Let's see… What have I missed since last night? They finally debugged the new boss? Sweet."

He played this violent game for a good hour before his stomach interrupted him. _Damn body. Thinking it needs food when I've already eaten like two whole cakes today._

Sighing, he logged off of the game and unlocked his door, only to have his brother topple over him.

"The fuck, bro! What are you doing outside my door like that?" Allistor shoved Connor off and stood up, brushing his hands on his loose pants.

Connor looked at him sheepishly and tried to make an excuse. "Um, mum says you're not supposed to play those shooting games," he muttered while still on the floor.

"Whatever. Get out of my room." He started to walk away. Frankly, he didn't care if his brother was in his room, as he had no blackmail material in plain sight. Maybe if one did a little digging, but there weren't any obvious objects that could subject one to that thought. Dark blue walls, a few flimsy posters, some scattered knick knacks, and that was all there was in his clean and orderly room.

"Wait, aren't you gonna help me up?" Connor whined from the floor.

Allistor paused, halfway down the hall, and said, "Do I look like I'm gonna help you up?" His brother pouted but Allistor continued to the kitchen anyway.

After he had gotten away from that pervert of a brother and made his way down the stairs, he was stopped by the same sight that he had seen earlier, minus the bouncy Peter of course. Peter was snuggled next to Arthur, apparently content to just spend some of his time watching TV with him. The junk food was still scattered around Arthur, but significantly depleted, and its consumer looked as gloomy as ever.

Allistor paused behind the couch and decided to bring his brother's mood down even further. "Remember those pics, Artie?" he winked at his brother when his head turned, "I still have them." He wiggled his empty fist at Arthur.

"Give it." Arthur said it in a distressed voice, but his eyes still burned. "And don't call me Artie."

"Oh, no no no. Not so fast." Allistor backed up a few paces and smirked. "You're never getting these back."

"C'mon, Ally, why?" He twisted around fully and Peter looked around too.

His voice tired but questioning, Peter said, "What pictures? Allistor, what are you talking about?"

"Why don't you ask Arthur?"

Peter looked up at the brother who was currently his pillow. "Arthur?"

"It's none of your business. Allistor, shut up and give them back."

Allistor ignored Arthur's last comment and waved at him. "Later." He abandoned both brothers and walked into the kitchen, but still heard part of the remainder of their conversation.

"Arthur, what pictures? What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"If you don't tell me I'll tell mum!"

"No."

"Mum! Mum! Arthur's got-"

"Shut up or I won't tell you."

At this point Allistor opened the fridge and it drowned out their words. "Milk, milk, scones, milk, scotch, cheese. What the hell? Do we only have the basic crap? And what's with all this milk?" He closed the fridge and opened the freezer. "Frozen peas, frozen corn, frozen broccoli, ice cubes. What is with this?" He closed the freezer and opened the fridge again. He saw the same items.

He was just about to give up when he spotted that amazingly tasty fried thing called an egg roll. "Heeeeeell yes!" He grabbed the last one and, not caring to warm it up, dashed out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and into his room. The fridge door was left swinging.

Allistor locked the door once again and sat down at his computer. He shoved the egg roll into his mouth with a force that was rivaled by few.

After he licked his fingers and patted his stomach, he laid back some in his chair. Right then he didn't feel like mindlessly killing zombies or the other monsters his game held. He glanced around his room to look for something to do.

And remembered the flash drive.

"Should I…? No." He felt his pocket. "I…" He closed his eyes. "Fine. Besides, I need to unwind a little bit more…"

Grabbing the flash drive out of his pocket and promptly shoving it into the correct computer port, he opened the files and quickly minimized them. He then mentally reviewed his checklist. _Door? Check. Towel under door? Check. Music? Check. Tissues? Check. Lotion? Check._

"Good," he muttered, and proceeded to look at the pictures.

Some time later Allistor laid on his bed, his chest heaving. _That one was exhausting._ Absentmindedly he rubbed his naked stomach and thought about his day.

_That boy, Alfred. He was… How should I describe him? Eh. Suicidal. Depressed. Cute. No, sexy._ He smiled a little as he thought of Alfred's clear, tan face and baby blue eyes. _And illegal_, his mind told him. He pushed that thought away and checked his phone for the time. _New message o'clock, I see. Better check that._

It was a simple message: _Yo party the frenchies house Saturday 9. Ur cuming rite? Haha like u have a choice. _From: _Awesome_

Of course he would go. How could he miss a party thrown by the best threesome of party throwers ever?

**A/N: We hope you guys understood some of our, ahem, wording. You should always look into the subtext…**

**Remember to review! We love to hear what you guys thought of the chapter and your predictions for next time.**


	4. Window to a Darkroom

**A/N: We just changed the rating to M, so be prepared for stuff to get a little steamier! Enjoy.**

* * *

It was Saturday night, and it was already 8:07. Allistor was digging through his closet for suitable partying clothes.

"Hmm, where are my party pants?" he thought aloud, throwing items over his shoulder. He finally pulled out two black blobs: a pair of skinny jeans and a pair of leather pants. "Which one?" He held up both at arm's length, looking back and forth between them.

"Those ones," said an unexpected voice behind him. _When did he get here, damn it! I thought I locked the door._ Allistor turned around and saw Connor pointing to the jeans in his left hand. "Why do you even _own_ leather pants?" the eighteen year old asked, raising an eyebrow both quizzically and suggestively. _Why _do_ I own these anyway? _He threw said pants back into the usually organized closet.

"What are you doing in my room? Did you pick the lock again? I told you not to do that. If it happens again I'll-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatevs. So where're you going this fine Saturday? Any parties?"

"Of course," he replied, turning back to the closet to find a shirt. He wouldn't go without one, not this time. He could barely remember that disaster.

"I'mma go with you. This house is so lame. There's nothing to do." Before

Allistor could reply with a _hell no_, Connor retreated to his and Dylan's room, presumably to get changed. Allistor closed the door once more and made sure he locked it. Deep in his closet he located a dark crimson shirt that fit his torso quite tightly. He quickly took off his clothes and put on the new ones, wary of when his brother would inevitably return. There has yet to be a lock he couldn't pick or code he couldn't break.

Ironically, the door clicked open and said boy walked in, now clothed similar to Allistor, but with an obnoxiously orange shirt. It almost made his eyes bleed just looking at it.

"Let's go, I'm ready. Out the window, right?" Connor crossed the room and opened the window fully, climbed out backwards, and lowered himself with his hands. When he was as close to the ground as he could get, he released and fell the remaining few feet to the ground. Allistor resigned himself to the fact that there was no way he could escape his brother. If he wanted to go, he would go. This wasn't the first time he had insisted on accompanying him to a party. Once, Connor had even stalked him the entire way to the house, hidden from Allistor's view. He had tried to lose him down side streets and small patches of woods, but when he arrived at the house Connor was standing right behind him, smiling and not winded in the least.

Allistor also exited through the second story window after tying a strong rope onto a hook on the ledge. They walked to Francis' house in silence.

* * *

The door to the large house opened before the two brothers reached it.

"Yo, dude! Hey, you brought your brother, cool! Party favor?" Gilbert asked, yelling to be heard over the head-splittingly loud music. He offered them an orange pumpkin shaped bowl, heaping with condoms of all different sizes and flavors.

"Sure," Allistor replied, not surprised. He was used to Gilbert's antics by now. He reached in and took two labeled _L_, then moved around the albino and into the house. It was filled with sweaty people dancing in the dimmed room. Multicolored lights hung from the high ceiling and tables of snacks and drinks lined the walls. _Alcohol, first I need alcohol. Maybe some nice scotch or vodka, _he thought. He slowly walked over to the makeshift bar and grabbed two of the many red cups on it. The contents of one was some kind of puke green color and the other one looked similar to Connor's shirt. He took a long gulp of one cup, then strutted over to a chair that was facing the dance floor and sat down heavily. He sat there watching the people dancing for a while. He knew he looked like a pervert, but he didn't give a damn what other people thought of him.

"Hey Al," said someone that he apparently knew but didn't recognize at the moment, "where've you been, man? It's been forever since I've seen you. Since you graduated last year. How've you been?" asked the teen while pulling up a chair and proceeding to sit on it backwards.

Finally remembering the other's name, Allistor answered, happy to see his old pal, Sadiq.

"Bored and lazy. What do you expect? I work at a café and the only reason I haven't been fired yet is because my looks bring in the ladies," he said and lifted his head a bit, smirking at Sadiq.

"Hah, what looks? I mean you're not all that bad looking, but Heracles is so much sexier than you!" Realizing what he just said, and that Heracles was standing right next to them, he slapped his hand over his mouth. Sadiq slowly got up and started walking away, muttering something that sounded like a 'nice seeing you again, later'. Heracles blushed feverishly and looked at the ground. He then started in the opposite direction that Sadiq had gone, allowing himself to be pushed around by the strangers around him. Allistor snickered to himself, thinking about how much his friend had changed.

Allistor lifted up the other cup to his mouth, only to find that it was empty. He stood up, mind set on getting another drink. He saw the host of the party flirting with two younger looking girls and a tall, handsome boy both at the same time. Gilbert was also flirting with someone, but just one male. He was pretty tall, but not taller than Allistor himself, had blond hair, and looked very shy. Allistor felt it was taking forever for him to get to the drinks because of all the people around him getting in his way. He tried squeezing between two guys who were very hyper, but ended up getting pushed into a shorter male. As he collided with the other, a drink slipped out of the other's hand, splashing all over the redhead's pants.

"What the bloody hell!" he yelled at the top of his lungs while looking at the blond who landed on the floor from the impact.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Is there any way that I can help you clean that up? Napkins, yes napkins, I'll go get them." The boy stood up warily, clearly in pain from the fall.

"No. No fucking way. You're buying me new pants," Allistor said extremely loud, causing a scene.

"Look," he continued, obviously trying to stay calm, "I said I was sorry and offered to help clean you up. Isn't that enough?"

"Oh, so now you're trying to get out of it. Well if that's the case, then let's settle this now." Allistor took a step forward and swung his arm, but the boy swiftly dodged it, looking up with anger in his eyes. He brought his hand to his side pocket, slowly pulling out something the he couldn't see because of the angle.

"Now, now, darlings, _calmez-vous_," said a smooth voice from the side. "This is _ma boum_ and I won't let you ruin it." The person who the voice belonged to stepped away from the crowd and wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist. Another guy restrained Allistor.

"_Non_, get off me, Francis! This guy started it!" The blond wriggled and dropped whatever he had removed from his pocket.

"No! Whoever that guy is started it! He purposefully spilled his drink on me!" Allistor raged.

Francis sighed. "I don't know who started it but you guys need to be separated. Or I'll throw you out. Vash, Allistor, restrain yourselves. And don't try to seek each other out later. This is nothing but a drunken encounter," he finished his small reprimand, and without hesitation started to drag Vash away.

"Yeah. Anyway, you need to come with me, Allistor," whispered a seductive voice in his ear.

"Gil-"

"Shh, shh. Now let's back away slowly and no one will notice our absence." Gilbert led him up the stairs and into an empty, darkened room. He sat Allistor down on the bed and closed the door. Then he turned around.

"It's been a while since we've been alone together, eh?" he smirked and removed his shirt. Underneath the white shirt was an even whiter stretch of skin. Small pink scars here and there indicated there was something more to this pretty boy than normal. His ribs were all but countable, his waist tinier than a girl's. He walked slowly towards Allistor, still seated on the bed.

"More than a while." Although Allistor and Gilbert hooked up now and then, it was just sex. No love, no nonsense. Just straight up hot gay sex.

"Mmm." Gilbert unzipped his pants and took them off faster than Allistor thought possible. They were skin-tight, after all. "Your turn."

Allistor smirked and undid his pants. Gilbert took them off for him and also ripped off the redhead's shirt. He stood there for a minute, admiring Allistor's natural muscle. He whistled. "Damn. You look better than I remember."

"Shut up and let's fuck." He pulled Gilbert onto his lap and into a kiss. After a few minutes, Gilbert pulled away to catch his breath.

"Yeah," he breathed into Allistor's ear and started to edge his boxers off. Allistor repositioned himself on the bed and beckoned to Gilbert. "Your undies," Gilbert gestured to the male on the bed. "Oh well," he muttered when Allistor just looked at him.

He crawled onto the bed on all fours and cackled in excitement. Preparing to kiss Allistor again, he-

The door opened and a bright yellow light fell across the bed. "Oh, shit, I didn't know you were in here," apologized none other than Connor. He squinted at the faces of the two sprawled across the bed, intent to spread the gossip later. "Oh shit," he said again, when he saw Gilbert nearly on top of his brother. "Dudes." He looked at Gilbert's snow white ass for a few moments too long and left the room, slamming the door shut on the way out.

"That ruined the mood." Allistor got up, pushing Gilbert in the process.

"Hey, c'mon, where're you going? We don't have to stop!" Allistor was already done putting his clothes on. He smoothed out the fabric and opened the door.

"Later," he called over his shoulder, at least closing the door for the disappointed naked man on the bed.

* * *

"Alfred, please?" Matthew pleaded. It was about six o'clock on that same Saturday.

"I don't feel like it, Mattie."

"But Francis invited me to go to his party, and I don't want to go alone. I can't tell him no. Please? You've been down all this week, you could use a little excitement. I know you'll have fun. Pretty please, Alfie, with sugar and chocolate and hamburgers on top?" Matthew used the saddest face he could muster to convince his twin.

"I told you, I'm just not feeling up to it. I have a videogame that needs attention right now. Wanna play?" Alfred looked up from his seat on the floor, offering a game controller.

"No, I need to go to that party, and you _have_ to come with me! I won't know anyone there except Francis, and I bet there'll be alcohol, and then drunks, and I'll be all alone without you! It'll be scary," he whined, pulling on his brother's arm and sticking out his bottom lip.

"Why don't you just not go?" Alfred said, stating the obvious solution.

"I told you, Francis asked me-"

"Why didn't you refuse his invitation?" Alfred interrupted.

Matthew's face flushed pink. "B-because. I d-don't know h-how. He's just…" His voice got softer as he spoke, and Alfred could barely hear him by the end of the sentence.

Alfred rolled his eyes and turned off the game. "Fine."

* * *

Matthew strolled up the long driveway that led to their destination. Alfred was walking noticeably slower than his twin and was looking down at that ground. Matthew hopped up the many steps and stood in front of a large, beautiful wooden door. He glanced over his shoulder when he heard Alfred shuffle up the stairs.

"Alfred?" The usually hyper boy looked up, but sluggishly. Matthew started to regret making his brother come with him when he was obviously not in the mood to go anywhere. Before he could finish his thoughts, the elegant door opened, revealing the Frenchman that invited him.

"Honhonhon, you actually decided to come, _mon cher_. I was starting to think you stood me up, _non_?" Matthew's eyes wandered to the bowl in the other's hands. "Oh, I see you have discovered my party favors." Francis' eyebrows rose in a very suggestive and perverted manner. Well, the items in the bowl _were_ condoms. Matthew blushed redder than Francis' favorite rose.

The entire time Alfred stood back, hidden from view. He wasn't really listening to the conversation. Examining his own clothes, Alfred realized he looked extremely gay, but sexy at the same time. This thought lifted his mood. His brother's voice floated into his ears.

"W-well this is my f-first time. At a p-party, I mean," the soft voice said.

"So that means I took your party virginity! Well come inside, _mon cher_, and perhaps I can take another kind." Francis spoke with an excited and devious tone. He led Matthew inside, Alfred following behind. Once the door closed behind him, however, Alfred wandered off on his own, mostly ignoring the drunk and horny partygoers.

He was startled into awareness when he walked into someone. This small someone gripped onto his sleeve to keep from falling backwards. Cold liquid dripped off his shirt. Alfred looked down and recognized the blond boy as Vash Zwingli from his school.

"Not again! Twice in one night!" Vash said, anger clear in his voice.

"Sorry, didn't mean to bump into you," Alfred replied, steadying his stance. "Um, see you later, alligator." He removed Vash's fingers from his sleeve and walked into the crowd.

Some minutes later Alfred was sprawled on a couch damp with some sort of liquid. He had a cup filled to the brim in his left hand and played idly with his cell in his right. He was debating whether or not to call Arthur and apologize for everything wrong he'd ever done in his life. Like the time he flushed his brother's live goldfish down the toilet, or when he stole Arthur's homework and handed it in as his own because it counted as a test grade, or when he and Mathias cheated together on the super important state test…

Alfred was really drunk.

Soon the cup was empty and the cell phone screen dark. _I-I want some more of this. This stuff. _His eyes were closed but he opened them to get up. _Can't walk with-without sight._ He stood up, well, he tried to stand up, but his legs were wobbly underneath him. He promptly fell to the floor.

"Hey, hey, easy there, tiger." A warm hand took his arm and stood him up gently. "You okay? You look a little drunk."

Alfred strained to see through crusty eyes. The figure was blurry but he could discern a handsome face. "You. I know you. You-you're that guy. I know you."

The man smiled and was about to reply but was interrupted by the familiar buzz of a phone. The male's smile turned into a frown and Alfred watched him take a small device out of his pocket.

"Oh, sorry. I have to take this." After letting go of Alfred's arm, the man quickly walked in the direction of the door. A loud thump could be heard, indicating that Alfred had, yet again, fallen to the floor.

"Ow. Wuz his problem?" The boy lifted his arm up and rubbed the back of his head. "Ouch." He tried to prop himself up against the couch, but only managed to slip and hit his head on the floorboards once more.

"That must have hurt," said a very seductive voice. Alfred opened his eyes a crack and peered at the redhead in front of him. Said man offered him his hand. The younger boy took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. Alfred ended up collapsing onto the other man. "Whoa, how drunk are you?" Allistor realized that he wasn't going to receive an answer. A stream of incoherent words slipped from Alfred's lips. "What am I going to do with you?"

The taller boy decided that Alfred was way too hammered to stay at the party. It simply wasn't safe for him anymore. He definitely wouldn't be able to think clearly. Allistor himself felt like going home, after having been interrupted by Connor. He decided to take the little drunkard home with him. That way he could make sure he didn't drive or get hit by a car or pass out in the street or something and have Arthur blame him for the rest of his life. Not that he cared or anything. He just liked getting presents from him on Christmas and stuff.

Just as the two started walking towards the door, a hand grabbed Alfred's arm. "Come on Al, we're going home now." They both turned to look at the red-faced and teary-eyed boy tugging on the sleeve.

Recognition sparked in Alfred's eyes and he threw himself on his brother, hugging him tightly. "Mattie!" Matthew had difficulty supporting the heavy body, but he managed.

"Who are you?" asked Allistor, squinting in the dim light. The boys looked nearly identical.

"Matthew. Alfred's brother." He glanced back at Allistor with an irritated look. "Who are you_?_ Never mind, I don't care. This party is only full of perverts and hypocrites. Especially," his voice cracked, "especially that _Francis_." The tears finally overwhelmed Matthew and he turned away, dragging his brother along with him.

"Alfred has a brother? And he's his twin, right? Sweet." Allistor grinned and dug his hands in his pockets, content to let the boys go. His gaze followed their very nice bottoms before they were engulfed by the crowd.

"Mattie! _Mathieu_! I didn't mean it like that! _Mathieu_!"

_Psh, just a bunch of drunkards here now. Should get going._ Allistor had a hard time pushing through the mass of bodies.

Allistor was halfway home when he remembered he left his brother at the party. _Fuck. Ah, he knows the way. He's made it back when he was shit-faced before. Guess he'll find his way back alright._

* * *

**A/N: **_**Just straight up hot gay sex.**_** Our favorite line of the whole story. Hehehe… Do any phrases stick out in your mind? We'd love to hear what parts you liked! Review and tell us!**


	5. Development

**A/N: Enjoy but prepare yourselves! There's a funky ending!**

* * *

After a few days of thinking and many mental debates, it was Tuesday and Arthur had made a decision. He'd find a way to apologize to Alfred. He had completely dismissed whatever Alfred had been about to say, and in a very rude manner. And his face! When Arthur had looked back at him, Alfred had appeared more serious than he had ever seen him. How could he just blow him off like that? Arthur just wasn't thinking straight. He had no idea what he thought about that night or how to respond to Alfred when he brought it up. Just not having the conversation was so much easier. But it wasn't the right thing to do. He had to fix his own mistake. Their friendship could depend on it. Finishing up his rather overdone scrambled eggs, Arthur thought up a plan for going about his apology. He dressed himself according to the weather before nervously leaving his house. _Oh gosh, am I really going to do this? Yes! You have to, Arthur! It'll just get worse if you don't! _

The blond made his way to the dreadful building as quickly as possible. He was set on finding the essential key to his plan before first period started. As he drew closer, he could see other teens chatting with each other, waiting for the bell to ring. _Where is he? _Arthur thought. He looked harder, approaching the group. _Ah ha! _He spotted the short Asian boy talking quietly with another student.

Picking up his pace, Arthur hurried towards the other. "Kiku!" The shorter boy turned around, wondering who was calling his name.

"Good morning, Arthur. What is it you need?" Arthur jogged up to Kiku, who smiled upon seeing who it was.

"Do you have a moment? I'd like to speak with you alone." The darker haired boy looked over to his friend, who nodded in return.

"Okay." Arthur led Kiku to a quiet area.

_Now how am I going to word this? _"Well, I was wondering," the blond boy started quietly, "if you could, um…" He paused, unsure of what to say. "Could you do me a favor?"

Kiku answered immediately, without a second of hesitation. "Of course. What do you need me to do?"

Answering in a rush, he said, "Well, could you ask Alfred to meet me in the courtyard after school is over? I'd really appreciate it. You have a few classes with him, right?" Arthur waited for the answer, afraid that his friend would refuse. _What reason would Kiku have to say no, though?_

The other boy was silent for a few moments. "Kiku?" Arthur asked, worried that he had asked too much of his shy friend.

"Oh, sure. Well, I have to get to class now," Kiku said as the bell rang, seemingly snapping out of a reverie. "I'll see you later." Mentally wiping the sweat from his brow, the blond inhaled deeply and proceeded to his own classroom.

The minutes passed by painfully slowly, each one adding more and more tension as he thought about the embarrassing and awkward conversation he was going to have. It was difficult to concentrate on his classes. He practiced what he was going to say in order to perfect it and minimize the inevitable awkward silence. During lunch he fretted over his churning stomach in the washroom, careful to avoid any unnecessary encounters with Alfred before their conference after school.

"Alfred," Arthur muttered, "I need to talk to you about last Monday. I've been thinking about things since I said that stuff and I'm sorry. I guess my anger just got in the way and I was upset about that email you sent me and I lost control of myself. I'm really sorry. We can talk about what you meant when you sent me those pictures if you want. I'm really confused about them so," he smiled, "I think you should tell me clearly. Anyway, can we still be friends? Will you forgive me?"

Arthur waited a moment and fiddled with his hands. "Perfect. I know he'll forgive me and we'll go back to what we were before." He giggled, "maybe we'll even be better friends. No. I think we have to forgive each other and patch up our relationship first. Otherwise…" He plopped down on the grass where he'd been standing for the last half hour and put his face in his hands. "Where is he? I thought for sure that he'd have rushed here after school." Looking around, he saw no one. The area was deserted. Who would want to hang out outside the school when they could just go home? He waited another fifteen minutes, all the while his anger increasing at Alfred's absence. _So he really didn't come? He doesn't care at all, does he! How could he stand me up like this? Just letting me wait for him, that- that- _

His fists clenched and tears welled up in his eyes. All the stress and built up emotion of the last week came out in the form of a few drops of water running down his face and heavy steps as he left the school.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Arthur had been left alone in the courtyard and things were becoming awkward for him and Alfred. They began avoiding each other in school. The relationship between them was strained as each held some anger. They stopped sitting together, but that didn't stop either of them from stealing glances at the other when they thought the other wasn't looking. As Alfred slowly drifted away from his best friend, he stopped by the café more often. After school he would choose a table by the window and order some kind of sweet dessert. Sometimes Allistor would bring him his unhealthy snack and sit down at the table with him. The chatter was usually about unimportant and immature things that caused both to laugh. Alfred was happier after each encounter with his new friend, and found that he didn't want to leave the café.

Arthur, on the other hand, only felt worse as the days wore on. He didn't have someone to cheer him up with witty banter or playful food fights. Kiku did attempt to lift his spirits, but Arthur just wasn't ever in the mood for it. Nearly everyday Allistor found a way to remind him of his blackmail. Arthur found himself caring less and less if people found out as the more important issue to him - losing Alfred - weighed on his mind.

* * *

Allistor woke up to the sound of feet going down the stairs. He looked at the clock. It was ten minutes before his alarm would go off so he got up anyway. Without looking, he grabbed a shirt from his drawer and put it on. He stopped before opening the door to crack his back. _Damn bed, _he thought. He grabbed the knob and yanked it open. Allistor was glad that his Friday shift started later than other days. The only person that was still at home was his father; his mother had already started her day and his brothers were at school. He slowly walked down the staircase, yawning. He found his way into the kitchen.

"Yo, dad. Where are you going? You don't have work today. Are you going to see that woman again?" Allistor asked, opening the fridge.

"Hey, Al. I'm just going to see Linda. Do you have work today? At The Only?" His father finished eating his breakfast and put his shoes on. Allistor pulled his head out of the fridge with half a sandwich in his mouth.

"Hm? Oh, yeah," he replied. "Have fun," Allistor said, smirking through the sandwich. A pickle slipped from between the two slices of bread and fell to the floor. Allistor noticed, but didn't bother picking it up. Someone else would do it. He ate his food while flipping through the channels of the small TV perched on the kitchen counter. Just soap operas, little kid cartoons, talk shows, and the news were on at that awkward time of the morning.

He went back upstairs to finish dressing for work. The uniform he was forced to wear was torture, in his opinion. The evil manager had deliberately given him one that was a size or two too small. The white long sleeved button-down shirt clung to his frame, clearly showing his well-defined muscles. His black pants were too tight all over. The black apron he hung around his waist covered the tightness of his front only, leaving the back exposed. You could tell just by looking that the pants were too small. Allistor suspected that the manager enjoyed looking at him, his ass especially. _Now that I think about it, all the other employees are handsome young men too._ He dismissed the thought, grabbed his phone, and jogged out the door.

The walk to the café was mostly uneventful. The entire way Allistor was absorbed in his thoughts. He wondered if Alfred was going to show up after school. He had been coming there a lot recently.

The door to the café was propped open and Gilbert was leaning against it. "Dude, you came just in time to relieve me!" He giggled obnoxiously.

Allistor snorted and resigned himself to ask the question Gilbert wanted. "Your shift or your shaft?"

Slapping Allistor on the back, Gilbert whispered, "Both."

"Get outta my sight! Your shift is over, Gilbert."

"Until tomorrow, Elizaveta. I love you, too."

"Out! You're disturbing the customers!" An object flew past their heads. "Al, sweetie, come in before I accidentally hit you."

Allistor grinned. "Sure, Mr. Manager." He turned to Gilbert and shook his hand with their special handshake. "Later." And he ducked inside before the next object, most likely a frying pan, could hit him.

"That's Mr. Manager _Sir_ to you, Allistor. Good morning," Elizaveta, Allistor's boss and owner of the café, said as she stood behind the counter with her hands on her hips.

"Yes, _Sir_," Allistor punched himself in and took a look around the café. There was only one customer, a stiff regular who never ordered from anyone but Elizaveta and always had some sort of sheet music in front of him. "Oh yes, Gilbert was most definitely disturbing this poor man over here."

"What? He was, look at him! His face is all scrunched up."

"His face is always scrunched up. Look, he's even wearing headphones." Allistor pointed to the man who was indeed wearing headphones. Soft classical music drifted around him. One wouldn't expect a proper man like that to have the volume on so high.

"Well, maybe the smell disturbed him, and aren't you forgetting something?" Elizaveta threw him a small rag. "Clean the tables. Real people will be here soon and I don't want them to have to scrape off crusty food to read the wonderful inscriptions on my tables."

Allistor caught it, but just barely. "What did I forget? Oh, good morning. Nobody likes those things anyway. They're so depressing."

"C'mon, really? I worked really hard on them!"

"Yeah, yeah, let me work, woman. You're the one paying me."

Elizaveta grumbled but let him work. She disappeared into the kitchen to do some other managerly work.

Several hours later the place busied up. "Welcome to The Only Café. Would you like a menu?" Allistor asked the new regular in the sexiest waiter voice he could muster. The customer's head jerked up and Allistor smiled. It'd worked.

"Hello there, Allistor. No thanks. I'll have my usual." Alfred smiled at the man standing before his table. Alfred thought, _It's like he gets hotter everyday!_

"So, that's me on a plate?" Allistor leaned on the table and spoke inches away from Alfred's face.

Alfred blushed. "No. Um, uh, it's the double-extra-super-"

"-chocoholic-eat-this-and-have-a-sugar-coma cake. I know. Don't get so hot and bothered, I haven't even brought your dessert yet."

"I'm not! Uh, don't forget t-the coffee." Alfred looked away and fiddled a bit.

"Right." Allistor walked towards the kitchen to fulfill the order. "Hot chocolate it is." He couldn't help his smirk when Alfred fretfully called to him.

"Coffee! It's coffee!"

Allistor waved a hand and got the usual two pieces of cake, coffee, and hot chocolate.

"That boy again, huh?" Elizaveta glanced up from her cooking.

_Play it cool. _Allistor crossed his arms. "Yeah. Now give me the cakes or there'll be an angry customer out there."

"Please. That boy would wait out there for you if it-"

"No. Now give them to me." Allistor held out his tray.

"I'm not so sure." Elizaveta held the plates away from him. "The other day he waited in that seat for at least an hour before he asked if you were working. When Gil told him, he looked-"

"Wait, he was here during the night shift? When _Gilbert_ was here? I thought you said you didn't allow minors during bar hours!" Miffed, Allistor plucked the plates from her grasp and stormed out of the kitchen.

"It was right before then! And that boy looked like he was more dead than usual!"

Allistor stopped in the middle of the doorway. "Really?'

"Yes, really, now go or else we'll have an angry customer!" Elizaveta chucked a soiled doily at him. It hit the swinging door.

"Throooough!" Allistor boomed as he walked through the doors.

Allistor retrieved the drinks and placed them on his tray. He made his way to Alfred and set the cakes in front of him. "Here you are. Your two cakes, coffee, and hot chocolate." Then he placed the tray next to the chair and sat down. It was their usual routine.

"Thank you." Alfred smiled. It felt like the sun was shining when he wore such a radiant expression.

Allistor waved it off.

"You certainly use your hands a lot." Alfred stuck his fork in his cake and Allistor laughed. Alfred realized what he had said and blushed. "Not like that!"

"Sure." Allistor waved his hand again for good measure. The boy was kind of cute when he blushed. "Anyway, you've been hanging around here a lot. Have you been stalking me?"

Alfred raised his eyebrows. "Me? Stalking you? Nooo." He looked away and stuffed a forkful of cake in his mouth.

_Guess he really does like me._ Allistor smiled. "Really?" Alfred only nodded. "Then why have you been coming here everyday for the last two weeks?" It wasn't everyday, but come on, Allistor liked to exaggerate. "Do you like me or something?"

It looked like Alfred had bitten off more than he could chew, literally. His eyes popped open and he started to choke. After a few moments of pounding on his chest and gulping his scalding drink, he could finally speak. "Can you get me some water?" Alfred barely whispered it and his face was beet red.

When Allistor returned, Alfred was mostly back to normal. "Here you are. Again." He smirked once more.

"Thanks." Alfred looked down at his lap after taking a small sip of water.

"You okay?"

Glancing up quickly, Alfred nodded. "Yes."

"Hey," Allistor took Alfred's chin in one hand, "you sure?" Once again Alfred nodded. "Good. Because I like you."

Alfred's eyes snapped open once more and his reply was lost as Allistor kissed him full on the lips. The boy was so shocked he fell limp.

"Get back to work, you playboy." Elizaveta said after smacking Allistor on the ass with the cloth he had used earlier to clean the tables. "And no dillydallying or cutesy looks."

Allistor glared at her and rubbed his rump. "Fine." He rummaged in his apron pocket and took out his order pad, tearing out a piece of paper. He scribbled his number on it and shoved it into Alfred's hands. "Call me."

* * *

**A/N: Eheeheehee this came kind of fast didn't it? Don't be afraid to tell us what you thought of it! **

**The next chapter will be posted in 8 days.**


	6. What Has Been Seen Cannot Be Unseen

**A/N:** **A slightly shorter chapter than usual, but it's packed full of emotions!**

* * *

It was that same Friday afternoon, and school was just ending. Arthur gathered up his books and stood, prepared for a lonely and boring evening of homework. He sighed.

"Arthur, are you okay? You have been sighing a lot recently. Sighing is a sign of sadness. Are you unhappy?" Kiku was standing next to Arthur, looking up at him with worry clear in his deep brown eyes.

"I'm alright, I guess." Arthur purposely avoided eye contact. He knew his friend would be able to read his true emotions and tell that he was lying. Apparently that wasn't enough. Kiku could tell anyway. He was always good at sensing the mood. Kiku didn't say anything though. Asking Arthur would only make him think about whatever was saddening him more, thus making the situation worse. Kiku couldn't stand to see his friend hurting like that.

They exited the school side by side, enjoying a comfortable silence. "Arthur," Kiku said, almost nervously, "would you like to, um, hang out tonight? It's Friday so we don't have school tomorrow so if you are not busy you could-" Kiku spoke quickly, then lowered his voice and eyes as he spoke the last part, "come over to my house." The short boy's eyes were fixed to his feet and his face was a deep shade of red.

"I'm sorry, Kiku, but I'm not feeling up to it tonight." Arthur started to sigh again, but stopped and turned it into a cough, remembering what he had said earlier and not wanting to worry him more. Kiku raised his eyes, disappointment all over his face. "I just want to go home. But maybe we can do it some other time, alright?"

"Okay, Arthur. Have a nice day." The two parted ways at the school gate and walked in opposite directions. Arthur wasn't in any hurry to get home, where his obnoxious brothers could bother him, so he decided to take a different route than usual. He was not looking forward to Peter's annoying questions or Allistor's taunts.

Arthur was enjoying the peaceful sounds of rustling leaves and chirping birds when he turned the corner. It was then that he realized he was on the street that led to The Only café. He continued walking, but considerably slower. He didn't think Allistor was working today, but he wasn't completely sure. _I'll just walk past quickly, I'm sure he won't notice me. If he does, he can't come outside anyway, that boss lady is strict!_ He sped up his pace a little, but not enough so that he drew attention. He couldn't resist looking through the windows into the café, if only to make sure his brother wasn't there. What he saw he couldn't comprehend. Alfred was sitting at a table, but so was Allistor. His brother leaned over the table and- and kissed Alfred.

Arthur froze and his blood ran cold. _What? What just happened? Is that- is that really…_ He took a step closer. _No, it isn't. Alfred wouldn't do that._ He took another step closer and his hands reached out to the glass. _Oh god, it is. How can he do this? How can he do this with my _brother_? I-I need to get out of here._

Tears filled Arthur's eyes as the shock wore off. _Oh god. Alfred didn't- he didn't pull away. _Suddenly he was moving, dashing away from the café and down the sidewalk until he got to the next corner. _Why did he do that? _He had almost run into two people but that didn't slow him. _Why didn't Alfred pull away? Oh god. _He turned the corner, but in the opposite direction of his home. _Does he- oh god, he hates me. He doesn't like me. He never liked me. Oh god. _He fumbled in his pocket and took out his phone, dialing a very familiar number.

He sniffled as the phone rang and finally someone answered. "H-hello, Kiku, it's Arthur. D-do you still want me to come over?"

* * *

Alfred decided to leave almost immediately after the incident. He paid this time, of course. The young male figured it couldn't hurt to take the long way home. The dirt road was quiet and very relaxing. It was the perfect place for Alfred to think. Just remembering that the previous situation actually happened made him blush. There was a lot going on inside his mind. _So he likes me? He really likes me? I'm so happy, I guess. But what would Arthur say? I mean, I like him too. Oh god, he'll never want to talk to me again! But Arthur is still my best friend, right? _Alfred brought his hand up to his mouth, gently touching his lips.

"They feel so different after that," Alfred thought aloud, not watching where he was going. "Maybe I should-" Before he could finish his sentence, he was flung into the air and fell face first into the dirt. He moaned in pain.

"Ouch! What the?!" The clumsy boy sat up and looked around, spotting what had tripped him. His jaw dropped in surprise. It was a hamster ball, filled up almost completely with animal food. He gaped, watching it make its way across the bumpy road. "I must have hit my head really hard." Sighing, Alfred looked around. The few houses on either side of the empty street were very small and looked like they could only sustain a few residents. _Where am I? _he thought, a little confused. The boy was so deep in thought that he hadn't really cared enough to follow the correct route. Nothing around him looked familiar at all.

"I'll just go back the way I came and go down the right street. I'll find my way home easily." Reassuring himself once more, he turned around and started walking, humming quietly to himself. Alfred made sure to focus on finding the right way this time.

After about fifteen minutes, Alfred started to get worried.

"Why can't I find my way home? I go this way all the time. Maybe I just went a little too far." Looking up, he noticed that the sun was on the other side of the sky. "What? I don't understand. How can it be getting that late already? I just left the café!" Alfred dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He checked the time. It was 4:37. "What the hell?! This doesn't make any sense!" That only made Alfred even more frustrated. "Maybe I can call someone and ask them to come find me." Scrolling through his contact list, he found no one that he could call. His dad was at work and Matthew usually had his phone turned off since nobody called him anyway. That left one person. Arthur. He couldn't call him. Well, he could but Arthur wouldn't come help him. It would be too awkward anyway. Alfred decided to just walk a little further before really panicking.

Ten minutes passed before Alfred heard some voices. _Oh good, maybe I can ask for directions. _He listened carefully, trying to find out from which direction the voices were coming. Behind him. Turning around, he walked toward them. As he got closer, he noticed it was a gang of teenagers. They looked a bit older than him and more knowledgeable about the area.

"Hey!" Alfred called, waving his hands in the air, "Hey, dudes! Could I ask you a question? You know, besides this one." He picked up his pace and quickly made his way over there.

Oblivious as ever, Alfred ran headfirst into trouble.

"Oh, thank goodness, finally some people in this barren wasteland!" Alfred skidded to a stop, nearly colliding with the leader of the gaggle. "Whoops. Sorry." He took a small step back, moving just out of the leader's personal bubble of space.

"Yeah. I-"

Alfred sighed. "I had the worst day. But it was also great, too, ya know? You ever had one of those days?" Alfred paused for a moment, and taking the silence as an affirmative, continued. "Well, it started off with school, which sucks, especially lately because my friend has been acting weird and- you don't need to know that part. Um, fast forward to after school when I stopped by The Only- no, you don't need to know that either. Okay. After that I wanted to take a long walk home, you know? To just think about things especially since that thing at the café happened." He paused here for a moment, lost in thought. He didn't notice the strange glances the teens gave each other.

"Ah, look-"

"Oh, yes. I know, I'm babbling. I'll get to the point, I promise. So, I decided to take the long way home, you know, the way I always go when I wanna take the long way home and I kinda got lost. Heh, in my thoughts _and_ in my direction. Funny, huh?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and for the first time noticed the danger in front of him. These were not your average teens. _Are those rusty crowbars? A-and baseball bats?_ "Ooh, those are some, uh, nice, er, handy tools you've got there. So, um, I kinda lost my way. Can you guys point me in the right direction?" Alfred stuck his hands in his pockets and glanced around at their faces, hoping to see some sort of friendliness or sympathy.

"Well, where-"

All of the teens looked back at the speaker in unison. "Shut up, Steve!"

After that outburst it was silent. Alfred stared at the leader, and the leader stared at him. It was becoming uncomfortable. "You guys look kind of busy, so I'll just, you know…" he waited to see if someone, maybe Steve, would help him. "Well, I think I passed by this creepy laundromat earlier, so I'll just see if I can find it. You know, ask… someone… there…"

"…"

"I'm just gonna go," he pointed behind him, his thumb shaking, "uh, that way. Have a nice, um, life." Alfred turned on his heel and tried to walk away.

A hand fell heavily on his shoulder. "Hold up there. Where d'you think you're goin'?" the leader questioned. Alfred turned around warily.

"Um… to the laundromat?" Alfred tried to smile but it came out as a grimace.

"You ain't anymore, boy. Hand over your valuables."

"No." Alfred tried to shrug out of the leader's grip but couldn't. _Damn, he's like Iron Man!_ "I don't need to give you anything! You didn't even help me!" He ripped the leader's hand off him and stumbled a few feet away. He turned away from the scene, but his foot got caught on his pant leg. His face smashed into the dirt and his glasses flew off somewhere. Distantly, he heard a small crunching sound but was in too much pain for it to really register. His hands had gashes and his face had scrapes. He could feel his nose bleeding.

He came out of his daze when he felt cold metal press against his back. "Up. And don't bother looking for your glasses. They're toast." Slowly, Alfred raised himself up to his full height. He put his hands up, because that seemed like the right thing to do in this situation. "Money." A crony stepped up and held out his hand. Alfred reached into his pockets and withdrew the only money he had: a handful of change.

"No wallet?" the crony asked with disappointment. Alfred shook his head. "Everyone has a wallet."

"Count it, Steve."

Steve pushed his way forward from the back of the gang, his round form jiggling. He took the change from his fellow member with sausage fingers and counted it. "Er, three dollars and sixty-nine cents, sir."

"Really? That's it?" The leader looked at him with disgust.

"Uh, yes sir," Steve replied, holding out the change for the leader to see.

"Just three fucking dollars and sixty-nine fucking cents?" He smacked Steve upside the head. "Mr. B will not be pleased." The leader crossed his arms. "Turn out your pockets." He gestured and someone jabbed Alfred in the back. "Now."

Alfred dug in his pockets once more. He felt a few empty candy wrappers in his left and a small slip of paper in his right. _I don't remember placing that there this morning. What is it?_

"I said turn out your pockets. Do I have to get someone to search you?"

"No, uh, sir." He maneuvered the paper to the palm of his hand, hiding it from their eyes, because he was sure it was something important. He turned out his pockets and the empty wrappers fell out. "That was all my money. Can I go now? Please?"

"I don't believe you. Boys, search him."

"Hey, hey, we don't have to go that far. I already gave you my money, c'mon." Alfred tried to plead with the leader, but he had turned away.

"Do you hear something, Leader?" Steve asked.

Everyone paused and, surprisingly, no one told Steve to shut up. "Yeah," Leader brought his hand above his eyes as a shield against the setting sun. "Shit." Alfred heard a faint but familiar wail. "Scram. It's the cops!"

There was a chorus of curses and a thundering sound of feet slapping the pavement. In less than a minute, all but Steve had disappeared. A moment later he had disappeared too.

"Thank god." Alfred squinted at the ground, trying to see if any part of his glasses had survived. He wiped the mixture of sweat and blood from his eyes but didn't manage to spot anything on the ground. Suddenly, he remembered the piece of paper scrunched up in his hand. "Boy, that's really wedged in there." It was stained with blood and dirt but not completely destroyed. "What is this?" He unfolded the paper, careful not to rip it, and brought it close to his face. "A-L-L-I-8- no, that's an S, T-O-R? Oh, Allistor! It must be his number! I'm saved!"

Whipping his phone out of his back pocket (the one the crooks hadn't managed to check) and heading over to the side of the road, Alfred dialed the number without thinking. It rang a few times before he finally picked up.

"Yeah?" said the irritated male on the other side of the line.

"Hey, this is Alfred. I'm kind of in a situation…"

* * *

**A/N: We couldn't help the hamster reference… sorry… 'v'**


	7. A Little Contrast and Reaction

**A/N: Sorry this chapter was a day late. We were busy with our little brother's awards night and tests and the beginning of summer.**

* * *

Arthur stumbled to Kiku's neighborhood, hugging himself the whole way. After notifying his mother he'd be gone for the night, he picked up his pace and approached the door. Kiku's mother was in the garden as usual, planting spring seeds and early bloomers.

"Oh, hello Arthur-san. Beautiful afternoon, isn't it?" She straightened up and dusted off her hands.

Arthur nodded. "Y-yes, Mrs. Honda. Thank you for having me over." He felt that he had to be his politest with adults, lest they find out about his, ahem, teenage things.

"Is something the matter?"

"Um, no. I'm okay, but thank you for asking." He quickly walked the final steps to the door.

The door opened before Arthur's fist had a chance to knock. "Welcome, Arthur. I'm glad you decided to come over." Kiku stood in his street clothes: girlish capris, a button up shirt, and tiny wooden sandals.

Biting his lip, he nodded and managed to choke out a small _yes_ before his emotions overwhelmed him. He stepped inside the door, barely remembering to take off his shoes, and collapsed into Kiku's arms.

"A-Arthur! What are you d-doing?" Kiku stood as still as a statue and blushed madly while Arthur started to sob uncontrollably.

"I c-can't, Kiku, I-I just can't. A-Alfred's a really t-terrible guy." Arthur tearfully looked at Kiku's face. "I can't l-like him anymore."

Kiku grimaced as he heard his rival's name. The two were in an unofficial competition for Arthur's love, but it didn't seem like Alfred knew it. "Alfred? What did he do to you?" He tentatively placed his arms around Arthur and blushed even harder when the boy gripped him tighter.

"He didn't do a-anything t-to me. Can we close the d-door now? I f-feel watched…" Arthur tried to glance out the door but couldn't because he was blinded by the hot tears that steadily fell from his eyes. He let go of Kiku when he went to close the door but latched onto him again as soon as he was done.

Kiku was more receiving this time and didn't stutter when he spoke. "Come. Let's go to my room. We'll have more privacy there."

They rushed to the room, rather awkwardly because it seemed like Kiku had an extra appendage or two, and locked the door behind them. Arthur collapsed on the fluffy bed, pulling Kiku along with him. The two laid on their sides, facing each other. Kiku felt a little weird and wrong laying like this with his crush so he sat up.

Arthur sat up as well and gazed at Kiku, sniffling and hiccupping after he had stemmed the flow of tears. "C-can I stay over for the night, Kiku? I don't think I can g-go home to- to a brother like _that_." Arthur looked at him with such sadness that the tears that had collected in the corners of Kiku's eyes began to fall.

"Of course. But tell me, what's wrong? What happened to you this afternoon?"

"W-well…" Arthur took a deep breath, preparing himself for a long and emotionally heavy story. Then he told him. He told Kiku everything. About the pictures, the awkwardness that followed them, the growing distance in their relationship, the depression, and then the kiss. That dreadful kiss. It turned his life upside-down. Kiku listened the entire time, not interrupting. He patiently waited when Arthur stopped to let out a few sobs, then continued once more. Arthur confessed everything, and when he was finished, his heart felt just a tiny bit lighter, as if a weight was taken off his shoulders.

Kiku was still blushing, but was also nodding his head and patting Arthur's shoulder occasionally. He was giving as much comfort as was humanly possible, if not more. Arthur looked up from the last words of his heart-wrenching tale and added one closing statement.

"And it's all my fault." He didn't elaborate, but Kiku was smart enough to know what he meant. The way Arthur had reacted to the pictures Alfred sent had pushed Alfred away, causing him to lose all interest in him and then turn to his older brother.

After Arthur finished his explanation, Kiku recommended that they do something to help Arthur get his mind off of things.

"Maybe we could play a few games and watch a movie? Oh, and we could make some popcorn and snacks later," Kiku suggested, playing with his toes guiltily.

"Yeah, that'd be fun. Do you think we could have some tea? It just helps me relax." Arthur looked up at Kiku hopefully. He seemed to have calmed down, but the redness of his face gave away that he had been crying.

"Yes, I think that is a good idea, Arthur. I'll go ask my mother what kinds of tea we have. Come with me." Kiku gestured for Arthur to follow him to the door. Moving to the side to let his guest leave the room first, Kiku walked out after Arthur. The two boys shuffled down the hallway and to the stairs. After sliding in their socks and Arthur nearly tripping, they reached the bottom. The smaller boy led Arthur into the kitchen, which was well-kept and organized. Arthur looked around, admiring the beauty.

"She must be outside still. You can sit down, Arthur. Please wait here a moment." Kiku silently walked to the front door, stepping out of Arthur's view. He decided to sit down until Kiku returned. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, the blond wondered where Kiku's mother kept the kettle and tea bags. Arthur sighed, happy that he didn't have to go home just yet, but still gloomy. _I'm glad I have at least one person who is always there for me._

"I'm so sorry, Arthur," Kiku said coming back inside, surprising him. "My mother has informed me that she recently had some visitors over and used up all of our tea. She forgot to buy more but if you want it that badly, we can walk down the street to the store and buy some." Kiku looked as if he had done something terrible and there was no way that Arthur would ever forgive him.

"Kiku, you don't ha-"

"No, I insist that we buy more," Kiku interrupted, acting slightly unusual. Arthur couldn't say no if Kiku wanted to go so badly.

"Okay, then. Should I go fetch our shoes?" Standing up, Arthur walked to the doorway that led into the living room and turned around.

Kiku looked as if he were about to protest but stopped himself after realizing that he would have to find the money and Arthur's jacket in his room. He replied with a quiet "Alright. I'll go collect the money." Kiku made his way to his room and walked in. He searched through his drawers for a few moments, shuffling a few memorable pictures out of the way before locating his small wallet. Sticking it in his pocket, Kiku proceeded to leave his room. Kiku felt that he was forgetting something. "Oh, yes. Arthur's jacket." He turned around to retrieve the article of clothing left behind.

Arthur slid his shoes on and stood up. He noticed the many frames that hung on the wall. Most of them contained a small boy, presumably Kiku when he was younger, and a beautiful woman who was the mother of the boy. Arthur found it strange that it was only those two in the photographs. No other father-like figure. He scanned the wall more closely. He did notice, however, that one awkward frame hung crookedly, almost completely hidden by a coat that was hanging over it. Arthur moved closer and pushed the fabric away, examining the contents. Curiously, he studied it. It was a photo of Kiku and himself. That was when they had had a party on the last day of school at Kiku's house. They were celebrating finally moving up to the middle school. Their expressions were those of happiness and they had ice cream cones in their hands. Little Arthur had some of his delicious dessert smeared on his nose.

"Arthur?" Kiku spoke softly but it still made Arthur jump.

"O-oh, I was just looking at these," the taller boy replied, "lovely photos. I'm sorry. We can go now if you're ready. Oh, here are your shoes." Arthur handed the sandals in his hand over to the other.

"Thank you. And no worries, those are up on the wall for everyone to look at," Kiku said while putting his shoes on his feet.

A few minutes later, they were out the door, telling Kiku's mother that they would be back soon. They started down the road to the convenience store. It was a ten minute walk and the silence surrounding them was friendly and comfortable. The two strolled through the motion-activated sliding doors and into the slightly cooler building. The store was vacant. The only person they could see was the cashier who was picking at her nails. Arthur searched one row, and Kiku another, before they came across a section with a small variety of teas. Arthur picked up a box of Earl Grey and looked at Kiku.

"Maybe we should buy some other snacks, too. Some chips," Kiku said looking around, "and some ice cream. What flavor would you like, Arthur?"

"My favorite is mint chocolate chip," Arthur said, walking over to where the freezers were.

"That's my favorite, too. Let's get some. Is there anything else we should buy?" Arthur pulled out a carton of ice cream and thought for a minute.

"Soda, we definitely need soda," he concluded.

After picking out two small bottles of Coke, the two boys decided they were finished. They had almost reached the end of the soft drink aisle when Arthur gasped and clutched at Kiku, dragging him behind a display, a towering structure of crackers.

"A-Arthur!" Kiku dropped the basket with their items and a loud _clack_ resounded through the store.

"Shh!" Arthur put a shaking finger to Kiku's lips. He whispered to his quivering friend rather frantically, "Oh my god. He's here. He's here! Why did he have to come here?"

"What? Who?" Kiku looked in to the wide green eyes inches before him and tried to breathe normally.

Arthur leaned in closer and uttered one word. "Him."

Flustered by the close proximity of his friend, Kiku could not figure out the identity of whoever this was without getting a look. "Who is it? Arthur, I can't see when you're forcing me down like this." Kiku struggled to be free of Arthur's grip.

"No, Kiku! It's too dangerous!" Arthur held on to Kiku and wrapped his arms around him so he wouldn't move.

"But I can't see him!" They continued to struggle.

"No! You can't!

"Let me go! You're touching my-"

"Hello? Um, excuse me…"

The duo behind the crackers jumped, falling into the display. The boxes came crashing down all at once and they bounced off the boys on the floor. Some of them opened, causing the plastic sleeves to scatter and roll everywhere.

"Oh! Are you hurt? Miss! Could you come over here? These crackers fell on people!" The bystander wrung his hands worriedly and stepped carefully around the figures on the floor.

"Yeah, I'm not deaf, you know. Hey kids- oh my gosh!" The cashier's mouth dropped open.

Sprawled on the floor was Arthur, his eyes squeezed shut with his face covered by his hands. Kiku knelt next to him, concerned. His face was flushed and he had a small nosebleed, probably from a cracker box.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" the woman asked, running over to the huge mess of boxes and children on the floor.

Kiku looked down at Arthur and responded, "Yeah, I think so. Thank-"

"Not you, my crackers!" The frazzled woman fell to her knees and began collecting the scattered boxes. "I spent two and a half hours stacking these this morning!"

Kiku ignored her and helped Arthur up, but he refused to remove his hands from his face. Kiku reached up and pulled at one of his wrists, successfully revealing half a bright red face. Looking past the shorter boy's head, Arthur spotted the person he had been hiding from and quickly looked away.

"Look behind you, Kiku, it's him! It's Alfred! Let's go, I can't face him yet," he whispered, turning away. Kiku turned his head and smiled.

"No Arthur, look, it's not Alfred, it's…" he stopped, thinking. "Um, he's… well I can't quite remember his name, but it's Alfred's brother. They really look alike, though, don't they?" Relief shot through Arthur and he faced back towards the boy standing around looking nervous. When he noticed him watching, the boy walked towards the two.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, obviously concerned for the victims of the cracker avalanche.

"Yes. Matthew, right?" Arthur brushed off his pants and straightened his jacket. Clearing his throat, he looked up at the boy standing before him. Now he could see the difference between the two brothers. Matthew was slightly taller than Alfred and his shiny, blond hair was wavy and longer. The bright blue eyes that were Alfred's were replaced with soft, violet ones that Arthur couldn't help but stare into.

"Yes, and you're Arthur." Matthew smiled warmly at Arthur. His face contorted into a look of concern again when he looked over at Kiku. "You're bleeding," he said before pulling a tissue from his pocket. Gently, he dabbed at the dark haired boy's nose.

"Thank you," Kiku replied gratefully. He took the soft material into his own hands.

"Okay, Kiku. I think we should pay and get back to your house. Your mum might be worried." Arthur picked up their basket and took out the boxes that had fallen in before going to the check out counter.

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**A/N: Sorry for the crack…ers… There'll be another chapter next Wednesday to keep on schedule. Please review! We did write you a very adorable Kiku after all!**


	8. Dirty Lenses

**A/N: We'd really like to thank LittleLobsterLocks and the anon reviewer! We love reading your reviews! **

**And here's the longest chapter we have so far with 3,429 words! Enjoy!**

* * *

Allistor was ticked. Just because he had kissed the boy and given him his number didn't mean he had the right to call him _on the day of._ Seriously, didn't he know the rules around here? Wait a few days and _then _call. Idiot. But he guessed Alfred didn't know the rules about dating. He looked like a deer in the headlights when they smooched.

Allistor smiled. _I'll keep that for a while. If only I had a picture of his face…_

"Dude, what's up with that face? You look like you're gonna eat me!" Gilbert glanced at his friend, the car swerving as he did so.

Allistor hadn't realized he had stared at Gilbert while reliving the memory. He grinned wider. "Maybe that's what I was going to do. Wouldn't you want me to?"

"Stop it, you're starting to creep me out." The car nearly went over the white line. "You remind me of that loner kid that used to sit at our lunch table. Always smiling at us and- ugh, I don't even want to think about it." The two shuddered as if remembering a terrible event.

"Yeah." Allistor pulled down the sun visor and checked his smile. "Am I really that creepy?" He made a few more faces and then frowned. "I really do look weird." _Alfred's never seen me smile like this, has he? Maybe that's why…_

Gilbert snorted. "No and you don't look weird. And stop obsessing over your looks, Mr. Pretty Man. We all know you look sexy without even trying." He mumbled the last part: "unlike some of us who have to work for it."

Allistor sat up. "Thanks. I mean, yeah, you're right." He punched Gilbert on the arm and the car swerved over the double yellow line.

"Dude, not in the car!"

"But we always do this in the car and, you know, we aren't in the UK."

Gilbert once again glanced over at his friend with a confused expression. "What? Duh, of course not. We're in America, dude."

"Well, here in America, we drive on the _right_ side of the road." Allistor lazily gestured out the windshield to an oncoming car. Gilbert's eyes widened in panic and he froze up. Allistor reached over and jerked the wheel to the right so that the car regained its proper lane. He really didn't feel like dying that night.

Shaking off the near-accident, Gilbert asked a really important question. "So, where are we going anyway?"

The red haired boy shrugged. "I don't know." Taking out his phone, Allistor called the person he was supposed to picking up. It rang three times before a voice sounded on the other side.

"_Hey. You close yet?"_

"No. You never told us where you are, idiot! How are we supposed to find you?"

"_I don't know. I'm lost, so I don't know where I am. Don't you know?"_

Allistor face palmed himself and replied in a barely restrained voice. "No, I don't know where you are. Go find a street sign and tell me what it says."

"_Okay. Hold on, don't hang up." _Allistor heard the crunching sounds of someone walking on rocks. _"I found one! Hold on, I can't read it. I'm gonna get closer." _There was the sound of plastic scraping metal, a pause, then a loud thump. _"Ow! Never mind. It said Pleasant View Road." More like unpleasant view,_ Allistor thought, _"And, um, Mer-veal-lee-ux?" _

"Mer-veal-lee-ux? Oh, you mean _Merveilleux_ Street," Allistor said, properly pronouncing the French word. "I know where that is. We'll be there in ten minutes. Don't get yourself killed." He hung up the phone.

Roughly two minutes passed before Gilbert spoke up. "So why am I doing this again?" Allistor looked over at Gilbert with a blank expression.

"Because you have a car and I asked you to. You could have said no, you know." Allistor continued to gaze out the window. Gilbert sighed.

"Why do you always drag me into everything?" the albino muttered to himself.

"Yeah, like that time in ninth grade when we stole the gym teacher's underwear. You didn't want to, but I forced you to help me." Allistor laughed a little, recalling the memory.

"Or that time at the convenience store. When you knocked over that cracker display and blamed it on me. The cashier was furious and made me pay for all the open boxes. I spent all my allowance that day. Now I'm banned from going to that store ever again."

"Hey, it wasn't all my fault."

"Actually, it was. You did it on purpose just to get me in trouble."

"Oh yeah. Never mind, then."

The two were quiet for the rest of the drive until they pulled up to a stop sign.

"Look, we're here. Now get out and find him."

"Okay," Allistor said. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door but stayed in his seat, staring at Gilbert.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Gilbert rubbed his face with the back of his hand. "Better?"

"No, no. That's not it. Are you…okay?"

The driver looked annoyed. "Of course I am. Awesome, in fact. Now go find your new toy before somebody kidnaps him."

Gilbert didn't sound awesome, but Allistor shrugged off the worry. "I'm going, I'm going."

The cool spring air gave Allistor chills as he stepped out of his friend's beat up car. He slammed the door loudly in order to alert Alfred that he had indeed arrived. That is, if Alfred hadn't seen the blinding white lights already. _Eh, kid's blind as a bat. Couldn't even see me coming when I kissed 'im._

"Hello?" a voice called tentatively from the darkness. "Allistor, is that you?"

It came from his right, which looked impossibly darker than the rest of the street. Allistor made his way over but stubbed his toe on a large rock. "Ow, fucking bitch. Damn it, that hurt. Shit, shit, shit."

"H-hello? Allistor?"

Allistor believed he had almost reached Alfred when something large, wet and slimy attacked his face. "Ah! What the fuck?" He slapped the thing away, which whined and fell back with a thump.

"Owie! That stings."

"Alfred?" He took a closer look but couldn't make anything out.

"Allistor? I thought it was you!"

Allistor snickered. "How? By feeling my face with your hands?"

"No, by the way you cursed. Um, can you help me up?" Allistor felt the air around him move and he figured the boy was waving his arms around. He decided he better do something before his face was attacked again, or worse, his balls.

"Stop. Stay still for a minute." He figured Alfred had complied, because his danger senses weren't tingling. He thought for a moment then scooped Alfred up bridal style.

Alfred wriggled and gasped, "W-what are you doing? I can walk!"

"Then why did you ask for help?" Allistor replied with a smirk in his voice. The struggling continued until he finally dropped the smaller boy onto his feet. They walked back to the car and Alfred got in the back seat. As Allistor reached for the door handle to the passenger's seat, Gilbert looked at his face, reached over, and locked the door. Allistor's eyebrows crinkled in confusion. Then the window was slowly rolled up, leaving a small opening at the top so they could hear each other.

"What's that for? Gil, let me in!"

"Nope, not with that face. I don't want you getting my baby all dirty." Allistor leaned down and turned the side view mirror toward him, so he could look at his reflection. What he saw was not a pretty sight. There were dirty red streaks smeared over his cheeks and nose, that, coupled with the scary grin Allistor made at the sight, gave him the look of some psycho mass murderer. He turned the mirror back, not wanting to risk any more near accidents, and casually strode around the car and opened the door behind the driver's seat. He sat down beside Alfred and met Gilbert's eyes in the rear view mirror, grinning triumphantly.

"C'mon Gil, drive already. You're not just planning on sitting here forever, are you?"

"Yeah, I'm going."

Gilbert turned on the car and it started moving only after they had all put their seatbelts on. Allistor lazily watched the scenery passing by outside. He glanced to Alfred to see what he was doing. The boy was looking at his hands and silently wincing from the pain. _We'll have to clean him up. _The redhead averted his eyes and continued to stare out the window. _My face looks good even with blood on it. _

It was quiet for a few minutes before the soft sound of raindrops bouncing off the roof of the car broke the silence.

"So," Gilbert said while putting the windshield wipers on, "we're going to your house, right, Allistor?"

"No, we're going to Alfred's house."

"Okay."

Allistor unconsciously moved his arm to rest it on the back of the seat, behind Alfred's head. Gazing through the glass, a small move in the reflection caught Allistor's eye. The young blond had tensed at the other's action. A smirk appeared on Allistor's face.

"Ahem, this car smells like puke," Alfred said.

Gilbert glared at Alfred through the rearview mirror. "No, it doesn't."

"Yes, it does," he insisted. Allistor completely ignored the two.

A moment of silence passed and Gilbert began to hum. Then, he casually pulled out a can of air freshener and proceeded to spray it before putting it back into a compartment.

"No, it doesn't," Gilbert said aloud, obviously happy about having the last word. _They're such idiots, _Allistor thought to himself.

A few minutes later Gilbert pulled up to a gas station. As soon as the car stopped Allistor was hit in the face with some sort of small square package. It landed in his lap. "What's this?" he asked, holding it up in front of his eyes.

Gilbert giggled. "I think you guys will need it."

"Is this," Allistor squinted, "a condom?"

The driver giggled again. "No. It's a moist towelette. _This _is a condom." Another square package landed in Allistor's lap.

After picking it up and examining it, he determined that it was in fact a condom. "Why do we need these?"

"Yeah," Alfred chirped in, "and why do you have a moist towelette? I thought only gay guys carried that kind of stuff in their fanny packs."

Gilbert made a face at him. "Because when you go inside to buy the gas you don't wanna look like you just killed someone. Anyway, why did you call Allistor when you were lost, huh? I thought only pussies called their boyfriends to save them from the big bad dark."

Alfred's eyes flashed. "Yeah, well-"

"Ladies, ladies, please. No need to fight. You can both have me." He patted the heads of both. "Here, Alfred," he said, handing the moist towelette to him, "clean up your face."

Alfred smiled. "Thanks, Allistor."

Mimicking him, Gilbert muttered, "'Thanks, Allistor,'" he scoffed. "That was for you, Ally. But here, I have another."

Allistor rolled his eyes. His friend always reverted to silly diminutives when he was worked up.

"No thanks. I look rather sexy with blood smears on my face. But you," he turned to Alfred, "don't. Let me help you." He took the dirty towelette from Alfred's hand and began to dab the places that were missed.

Alfred averted his eyes but still had the courage for one last comment. "He just has an endless supply, doesn't he?" He breathed this in Allistor's ear, just loud enough for him to hear. Allistor laughed.

"Aren't you gonna buy my gas? I took you on this little trip with my own car."

"In a minute, I'm almost done." He wiped away one last smear. "Done. Let's go buy Grumpy Gil his gas."

Chuckling, Alfred said, "I thought he already had enough gas. I mean, doesn't this car smell bad enough already?"

Everyone laughed, including the butt of the joke. The mood lightened and the two in the back got out of the car, Allistor shoving the two small packages, one empty, into his pocket.

Luckily, the rain had stopped. As they approached the building, Alfred looked up at the bright glowing sign that advertised the name of the station and the gas prices, squinted, and groaned.

"Did we _have _to stop at Stalin-Mart? I _hate_ this place. The cashiers are always creepy and stare me down."

"We had no choice. Grumpy Gil is also Got-No-Money Gil so he keeps the gas tank nearly empty at all times. It's a strict rule."

"Oh, I see." They walked inside the building. "I'm hungry." Alfred reached into his pocket and found it empty. "Oh yeah, I have no money."

"What do you want? You can pay me back next time you come to The Only. I'll charge interest, of course." Allistor strode down the nearest aisle and picked out a couple of snacks. Alfred followed him, leaning in close to the shelves to see what the packages said. Finally he chose a bag of chips.

He put all the items on the counter in front of the register and handed the man a twenty. "Use the rest for gas on pump two." Allistor ignored the man's reaction to his still blood-covered face. Secretly, he enjoyed watching the man's eyes widen and his failed attempts not to stare. _He must be new here._

Allistor grabbed the bag containing their items off the counter and made his way to the door, holding it open for Alfred. They strolled over to Gilbert, who was pumping the gas into his car.

"I thought you were going to make me do it," Allistor commented, opening a door and sitting down on a worn seat. The door on the other side of him opened and Alfred stepped in as well.

"No, I wouldn't want _you_ touching my baby." The white haired boy smiled, eyeing the bag of goodies. "Get me anything good?"

"Yeah, I got you some balls," Allistor pulled a package of Bro Balls out. "I could have gotten you the pink ones but I think the white ones suit you better." He handed the treat over to Gilbert, who, in return, snickered.

"Nice one." Slamming the car door shut, Allistor looked over at Alfred and pulled out the bag of chips the boy had picked out. The redhead watched the blond rip open the bag and devour almost half of it in under a minute.

"Were you really that hungry?"

"What?" Alfred asked with his mouth full.

"Never mind," Allistor mumbled, turning away.

Gilbert climbed back into the vehicle with half of a Bro Ball in his mouth. He tried to say something but neither boys in the back seat understood so they ignored it.

Allistor eyed Alfred's snack, unable to resist the scent of a greasy, unhealthy food. Before the other resumed his demolishing of the chips, he reached into the bag, intending to grab a handful.

"Eh, eh, eh," Alfred tutted, smacking the unwanted hand away. "These are nacho cheese. You can't have any!" he sniggered. "Get it? _Nacho _cheese? As in _not yo_' cheese!" He was hysterical.

"Ha ha."

"Awesome! High five me, dude!" Gilbert held out his palm for the satisfying slap, which was received in a split second. _Whatever was bugging him must have stopped._

Allistor glanced at his phone. It was late. "Let's get going. Alfred, tell Gil where you live."

Alfred pouted. "No! I don't want him to stalk me!"

"Like hell I would. I don't need a skinny little blond boy when I have a tall and muscular fiery red-headed devil."

"Just tell him the address, Alfred," Allistor fumed. It was late and he'd been wanting to go to sleep since he woke up.

Seeming taken aback at the older boy's reaction, Alfred told Gilbert the information quite meekly. "Don't worry, Alfred. He's real hot-headed but he'll cool down in a few. He's probably just angry about something you and I don't know about," Gilbert said, trying to comfort the boy in his car.

"Oh, shut up. I wanna go home." Crossing his arms in the back seat, Allistor stubbornly looked out the window.

The driver laughed. "Buckle up, kids! This is gonna be a rough ride!" He shoved the key in the ignition and the car sprung to life.

"Aye aye, Sir!" Alfred complied and then glanced at his seat buddy. "You need to lock in, too, Allistor."

"Don't need to. I'll be safe." Alfred telling him to do it just made him decide not to.

"Not if he drives like he did on the way here."

"Okay guys, I'm pulling out~ Better have your seatbelts on!" Gilbert whistled and put the car in drive. He was doing this whether all his passengers were safe or not.

Alfred quickly reached over Allistor to pull the seatbelt over him. He withdrew his hand as fast as he could when he heard the soft _click_ that signaled it was secure. "There. Now you're safe."

Allistor glared at the gleeful boy next to him and, without moving a muscle except his arm, reached down and pressed the release button. The seatbelt slowly snaked back up across his body, the slithering noise the only sound in the car as the two in the back seat maintained annoyed eye contact. They simultaneously looked out their respective windows. The car was zooming along dangerously, barely maintaining its lane. Allistor silently wished he had just left his seatbelt on. He was too stubborn for his own good sometimes. He really wanted to, but his pride wouldn't allow him to refasten it. It was one of his few weaknesses.

They pulled into the driveway of a modest sized house. Just as Alfred got out of the car, the front door of the house opened. A woman walked out.

A soft "Goodnight, Vanna," could be heard from the man standing in the doorway. Apparently, Alfred hadn't noticed anything at all. He was walking toward the front door, but he missed the walkway completely. As he ambled over the grass, he fell over a rusty old bike.

Allistor got out of the backseat to move up to the front. The woman was fumbling with the keys to the small blue car next to Gil's in the driveway. As he approached the passenger door and the woman, Allistor gave a casual "Hey, mum" and got in the car. The woman managed to open her door and drove away quickly.

Just as he was buckling himself in, this time of his own volition, he glanced over at Alfred, who was still tangled up with the bike on the ground, and realized something.

"Gil, wait here." He got out of the car, making his way over to the boy on the ground. "Hey, what happened to your glasses?" Alfred looked up at Allistor.

"You know, I dropped them and…a car ran over them. Yeah! That's exactly what happened!" Allistor stood above the boy and watched him disentangle himself from the piece of junk in the grass.

"Yeah, that's _really _what happened," the redhead replied sarcastically.

Alfred pouted and said, "No, that's really what happened!"

"Yeah, okay then." Allistor still didn't believe what the blond was telling him. He could tell by the way the other said it. Alfred finally rose to his feet, cautious not to trip again. The boy took a step, but ended up limping and wobbling in the other direction. After leaning on Allistor to regain his balance, Alfred was lightly nudged off by the other male.

The blond attempted to take another step before the taller boy huffed and grabbed his arm to sling it around his shoulder. Together, the two made it to the doorstep safely and Alfred hopped inside before turning around to face Allistor.

"Thanks, dude. You're like a life saver, man. And not the candy." The older boy watched as Alfred waved and tried to shut the front door unsuccessfully because of a certain foot jammed in the entranceway. It slowly opened to reveal a confused boy.

"Hey, don't I get a goodnight kiss?" The door was roughly slammed in Allistor's face, much to his disappointment. _Oh well. I'll get him next time, _he thought to himself.

Walking down the driveway to Gilbert's car, Allistor thought about Alfred.

"Ready to go?" Gilbert asked once he had reached the vehicle.

"Yeah," Allistor replied, getting in.

There was a minute of silence. "Wanna go back to my place?

"No."

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**A/N: Hehehe… Stalin-Mart… Ivan really plays multiple roles in this story.**


	9. An Addition to the Album

**A/N: Enjoy and thanks for reading!**

Arthur and Kiku hadn't walked ten feet before Kiku suddenly stopped. "Wait, Arthur," he said, excited, "I have an idea." Before Arthur could comment, his friend raced inside the store. He came out a minute later with Matthew.

"Kiku? What are you doing?" Kiku's eyes gleamed. "You'll see. Let's get back to my house. Matthew will stay over tonight." Arthur was distressed. He didn't want _his_ brother to stay over when it was just supposed to be him and Kiku tonight. It wasn't like he didn't like Matthew, but…

"What will your mum say?"

Kiku softly patted his arm. "Don't worry. My mom always wants me to socialize. She will be happy that I'm bringing home another friend."

"One minute," Arthur called as he took Kiku's hand and led him a few feet away, out of Matthew's hearing range. "I don't think this is a good idea," he whispered, and glanced at Matthew. Matthew looked a little deflated, as if he had just been given a gift but it was snatched away a second later. "I mean, don't you think he's kind of like the enemy now? Since Al-Alfred…"

His friend gave him a stern look. "No, not at all. If anything, Matthew is the most perfect person for you to be friends with right now. And because you're thinking in 'sides', it would make sense to call Matthew the insider. Anyway, we should stop talking like this. Matthew is getting worried." Kiku walked over to Matthew and spoke a few words to him, inaudible to Arthur.

Arthur sighed. They had better get back to Kiku's house soon.

A soft "Thanks," floated into Arthur's ears. He looked around and realized that Matthew had spoken.

"For what?"

Matthew giggled but didn't answer. Arthur laughed too; it was contagious.

Kiku's mother was in the same exact position she was in when they had left for the store. "What, did you buy this boy there too, Kiku?"

"No, we found him at the convenience store on the corner." Kiku smiled at his mom's little joke.

"Yeah, we picked him up from the corner," Arthur affirmed. Kiku giggled into his hand and glanced sideways at Arthur. Matthew's jaw dropped and he blushed furiously. Arthur, a little slow on the uptake, realized what he had implied and reddened at his own mistake, more embarrassed from the fact that he said it in front of Kiku's mom than that he had made such a statement.

Kiku's mother simply smiled sweetly, removed her gardening gloves, took the box of tea from the plastic bag still on Kiku's arm, and walked towards the door. "I'll make this tea for you and bring it up when it's done."

"Thank you, Okaa-san," Kiku replied as the boys headed inside after her.

"Have fun, sweetie."

Upstairs, the three boys sat down in a circle. Arthur on the bed, Kiku in the computer chair, and Matthew on a small wooden chest.

"So Kiku, um, you had a plan? A specific reason for inviting Matthew over tonight?"

"Yes. I don't know how you both will react, but I just want you to listen until I finish. I will explain everything. Please hold all questions until the end. Are you ready?"

Matthew and Arthur nodded. Kiku began.

"Well, Arthur, I know you are feeling betrayed by Alfred," Matthew looked confused at this, "and you might want 'revenge' on him," _yes, of course, revenge! _Arthur thought, "so I think I know a way to do that." Kiku took a deep breath before continuing. "Alfred kissed _your_ brother, and is probably together with him, so why don't you 'date' _his_ brother? It's like 'an eye for an eye', or in this case, 'a brother for a brother'. You can go out with Matthew and-"

"Wait a second! Go out with Matthew? Why-"

"I asked you to please hold all questions until the end please, Arthur. I will make everything clear to you. Do not worry," Kiku reassured the other. "Anyway, I was saying that you can go out with Matthew, or at least pretend to, and he will feel the same way that you felt when you saw him and Allistor together. Matthew, I know that you and Alfred are very close, right? So surely he will feel _something_ when he sees you two kiss-"

"Kiss? Why do we have to kiss? Oh, I'm sorry. Go on."

"Thank you. If you don't kiss how will he know that you are dating? Pretending to date, I mean. I know that you won't really be dating, but Alfred won't. He has to think it's real. You can't just tell him outright, he won't believe you."

"Then why can't I pretend to date you instead? It's more plausible, right?" Arthur asked. Kiku's cheeks became slightly red tinged.

"B-because it won't have the same effect. I'm not his brother." Kiku fell silent and looked at the other two. "What do you think?"

Matthew appeared skeptical. "But why would I want to do that to my brother? And I kind of already like someone…" Matthew's voice faded out near the end of his sentence.

"You mean Francis? But this will help your situation also. Won't he be jealous that you are with someone else and try harder to be with you? Won't he forget about everyone else when he finds out that you aren't so easy to get?"

"H-how do you know about Francis and what he did?"

Kiku smiled knowingly and his eyes glinted with secrets. "Oh, I have my ways."

Arthur gradually opened his eyes, revealing an off-white colored ceiling. He turned his head slowly to see a small bed with a duvet decorated with tiny leaves spread across the mattress. Tiredly, he moved so he had a view of a desk littered with little knick-knacks and miniature figures. Manga covered a small shelf attached to the wall above the desk and a brown dresser sat adjacent to the door. A beautiful lamp sat on the nightstand. _Where am I? _he panicked. Arthur sat up and looked around more clearly. He also spotted a computer monitor and an interesting collection of stones. Several picture frames hung on the walls as well. It took Arthur a minute to take in all that he'd seen and put everything together.

"Oh yeah, I'm at Kiku's house," the boy remembered. He thought back to the night before. They'd eaten a lot of the snacks and junk food that they had bought and after a while the boys were on a sugar high. Picturing everything in his head, Arthur stared at the light green wall for a minute before glancing down at his friend again. Kiku was curled tightly in a ball, facing the blond. The blanket only covered half of him and his light blue pajamas were ruffled and clung to his small frame. On the other side of Arthur laid Matthew. The quiet boy slept facing away from the other two, hugging his pillow closely. Matthew's back was exposed and his legs were tangled in the blanket. Small bits of sunlight snuck through the curtains and lit up the room partially.

Arthur stood up as carefully as he could and silently tiptoed to the door. Turning the knob cautiously, he opened it just enough for him to slip through. As soon as he was out and in the hallway, the scent of delicious food assaulted his nose. Arthur's mouth watered and his stomach growled, demanding breakfast.

"Gosh, I'm so hungry," he whispered, patting his abdomen gently. He then proceeded to walk down the stairs and stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. Feeling a chilly breeze, Arthur looked down to find he was only wearing his boxers and striped socks. "Crap," he muttered, hastily walking back up to Kiku's room, not wanting the other's mom to see him bare.

The door creaked as he opened it and he hoped the others wouldn't wake up. He slipped inside the room, careful to make sure the only sound the door made was the inevitable _click_.

"Arthur?"

"S-shit," Arthur half-yelled, "I didn't even see you there." He looked towards the sleepy boy and grimaced. The other smiled a little awkwardly.

"Oh," he said, glancing around. "What time is it?"

Arthur searched for the creepy kitty clock Kiku always had on the wall. The yellow eyes stared at Arthur and the black tail swished back and forth. The ticks it emitted seemed almost ominous. "Nine thirty-two."

Matthew's eyes widened and he groped around for his glasses. "Wow! Is it that late already? I can't believe we slept so long!" After finding them, he stood up and stretched. "Normally I wake up around seven."

Arthur laughed. "Me too. And Kiku, also, I think. He's just exhausted from our little party last night."

"Should we wake him up? I feel kind of weird being awake when he's not," said Matthew as he sat on the edge of the bed. His stomach growled. "Plus I'm kind of hungry…"

Arthur nodded. "Kiku's mum is making breakfast. It smells delicious. Anyway, let's wake him up now." He crouched next to Kiku and motioned for the boy on the bed to come over. "How should we do this?" he asked, once Matthew had joined him. Kiku looked so small curled up on the floor like that, it seemed almost evil to wake him up. As Arthur stretched a hand towards the tiny shoulder, Kiku began mumbling in his sleep.

"-sorry. I'm sorry, Arth-" Before Kiku could say any more, Matthew had reached out and tickled his exposed bellybutton. Who could resist something so cute? Matthew had a devilish smirk on his face as he continued to move his fingers over the no-longer-sleeping boy's more ticklish areas. Kiku flinched first, then started wiggling and laughing uncontrollably. Arthur noticed Matthew's skill at tickle fights and thought that he must have had plenty of practice with his brother. To get his mind off of _him_, Arthur decided to join in. He touched the side of Matthew's neck, causing him to jump and lose his balance. He fell over onto his side, then attacked Kiku's feet, which were right next to his face. By now Kiku had figured out what was going on and tried to pull away from the other two to catch his breath. His face was red and he was breathing hard, a smile remaining from the laughter.

They all calmed down while sitting on the floor looking at each other. Kiku looked uncomfortable. His hair and clothes were ruffled and the other two were wearing nothing but boxers. Because of the unplanned sleepover, they hadn't brought any pajamas with them.

Arthur stood up and found his discarded clothes. "Let's go eat breakfast, I'm starving." He pulled on his jeans and t-shirt while Matthew did the same. Kiku composed himself and also stood.

Once downstairs, the three sat at the kitchen table and ate the wonderful breakfast Kiku's mother had prepared.

After they finished, the trio trudged upstairs to collaborate on their plans of revenge.

It was Wednesday afternoon, just a half an hour after school ended, and Alfred found himself in front of The Only once again. His legs seemed to have moved on their own, leaving him in front of the café Allistor worked at, like almost every other day. He'd been wanting to ask the redhead if he wanted to hang out, but never got the chance.

"I'll just ask him today," Alfred said aloud to himself. He smiled and walked into the café, eager to see his new friend. Strolling over to the table in the corner that he usually sat at, he plopped himself down and waited. There were a few people here and there, but overall it wasn't really busy.

"Hello there, sexy. Is there something you need?" a very slick voice asked. Alfred blushed at the way he was addressed and looked up shyly, catching a glimpse of Allistor's smirk. He was wearing his usual waiter outfit, but something about the way he looked made Alfred's heart pound in his chest.

"Hey," he replied, trying to remember what he wanted to ask. "Actually, I don't really want anything. I'm not hungry." It was true, Alfred wasn't really in the mood for anything. Raising an eyebrow and looking at Alfred like he was crazy, Allistor slid into the seat across from the blond.

"So you came here just for me? I'm flattered, Alfred." Allistor grinned. The blond felt his face heat up more from the suggestion.

"No! I came here to ask you something!" Alfred responded defensively.

"Well, what is it?" Allistor stared at Alfred expectantly.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out, like go to the park or something?" Alfred asked, hopeful that the answer would be yes.

"You mean like a date?" Allistor asked, now grinning like a madman.

"Pfft, no! It's just to pay you back for what you did for me! Because heroes never leave debts unpaid!" Alfred responded.

"Hm, if you say so," Allistor teased. "Well, I can't leave now. I have work to do."

Disappointed, Alfred mumbled, "Oh." His mood deflated quickly because he was really looking forward to hanging out with Allistor.

"But," the redhead said, "we can go on a date on Saturday, if you _really_ want to."

"It's not a date!" Alfred fumed, but a smile found its way onto the blond's face at the idea of being with Allistor when he wasn't working.

"Do you want to or not?" Alfred looked across the table at Allistor again, who waited for an answer.

"Yes."

"Good." Allistor leaned across the table and pecked the boy on the lips. "Better get out of here before you get me in trouble again." He stood up and retrieved his tray. "See you Saturday," he said, and walked away.

"Yeah, uh, Saturday, then." Alfred blushed. He left the café with a smile on his face and decided to take the regular way home. He wouldn't risk taking the long way again, not since the accident.

Until he got close to his house, Alfred's thoughts were pretty calm. Then he started to worry. _We'll be at the park. Alone. In the middle of the day, but still. We'll be alone._ He stopped right before his mailbox. _Crap, what am I going to wear? I have no idea what you're supposed to wear to these things! _Opening the mailbox and finding it empty, he closed the flap and put the red flag up. He liked tricking the mailman.

_I know! I'll call Arthur and ask him! He'll give me that good British advice of his- and…_

The walk down the driveway took a long time.

_He'll- he wouldn't answer my call, would he? Anyway, he doesn't have much fashion sense._

He opened the door and trudged inside. "Alfred? Is that you?"

"Yes, Mattie. It's me." He shut the door slowly and then a thought occurred to him. Mattie was fashionable, good looking, and, most importantly of all, he was Alfred's brother! Brothers help each other with everything!

"Can you come here? I wanna show you my project for math!"

Alfred grinned. "Yeah, I need to talk to you though."

Making his way towards his brother's bedroom, he realized something. His precious and pure Matthew knew nothing about his, ahem, relationship, with the older, dangerous, and experienced Allistor. _I don't want him to know about that. It'd ruin his innocence and he'd never be the same._

Alfred stepped into his brother's room and flopped down on the bed. _I'll just avoid the question when he asks._

"So," Matthew said, "here's my-"

"I need your help," Alfred interrupted. He sat up and faced the violet-eyed boy. "It's about, um," he paused, unable to think of the word. Gesturing to his body, he said, "this. This stuff. I need to have something cool."

Matthew looked at him with a knowing smile. "What do you mean by 'this'?"

"You know, uh, whatchamacallit, this." he gestured to his body again a little more and stood up. He twirled around and stomped his feet. "It's _ropa_. I can't think of it in English. Damn Spanish class is messing up my memory!"

"I don't take Spanish, Al, I take _français._ And it looks like you're doing the potty dance," giggled Mattie.

"Clothes! That's what they're called! Finally! I need help with clothes!"

"Why? Looks like you're fully dressed today. What do you need me for?"

"Of course I have clothes on _now,_ but I need different clothes. For Saturday. I'm- going to the park. Because- I haven't been there in like forever and it has to be special! So you totally need to go into my closet and throw something suitable at me. Please, Mattie? Pick something awesome, but not embarrassing or dressy." Alfred stared into his brother's eyes, silently pleading for him to agree. Matthew pretended to think about it, placing his hand on his chin and looking up at the ceiling.

"Hmm… yeah, okay." Alfred jumped in excitement and hugged his brother, then dragged him to his own room and into the closet.


	10. Just a Little Thumbnail

**A/N: Character development! And not much else… Enjoy and thanks for reading!**

* * *

"Hello?" Arthur answered the phone. He was finishing up the last question of his homework and had been interrupted by a super annoying ring tone.

"_Hi Arthur. It's Matthew. I have some groundbreaking new information."_

Arthur sat up on the bed, his interest peaked. "Well what are you waiting for? What is it?"

"_I was just talking to Alfred and-"_

"Wait, we should talk to Kiku too. He should hear it at the same time I do," Arthur forced himself to say. He really couldn't wait for the news but knew that without Kiku all their plans would surely fail.

"_I am also listening, Arthur. Matthew has three-way calling," _said Kiku's soft voice.

"Oh, so continue. Please just tell me!" Arthur was having a difficult time keeping his anticipation under control.

"_Alright. Alfred asked me to pick out his clothes for a _special_ day at the park. He was really worried about his clothes, you know what that means._"

"A… a date? He's going on a date… with Allistor?" Somehow Arthur never actually realized that the two would be _dating_. At a park? They were going on a date at the park? That didn't seem like Allistor at all.

"_Arthur? Are you still there?_"Kiku asked, worried about his silent friend.

"Uh yes. I didn't hang up."

"_Would you like to hear my idea for how we can use this to our advantage? Or do you want us to tell you later?_"

_RIIIIIIIIIING!_

"Now, please tell me now. If you wait I'll just explode from the suspense."

"_Alright. Tomorrow we sh-_"

_RIIIIIIIIIING!_

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Arthur shouted toward the door, "Hey, someone get the phone, I'm busy!" _RIIIIIIIIIING!_ Of course everyone would ignore it. His brothers never did anything to help out around the house. "Hold on a second, guys, the phone is ringing and _I _have to go answer it. I'll be right back." He hated how it was always his responsibility to do everything. He put his cell phone down on the bed, leaving it open, and went downstairs to the kitchen where the house phone was located. He didn't bring his cell because one of his brothers might see him. They didn't know he had friends that he would actually talk to on the phone. They might take it and find out who he was talking to. Then his plans would be ruined.

He picked up the cordless phone and answered, a bit of annoyance showing in his voice. "Hello? Kirkland residence."

"_Hello. This is Sherrill. Is Pat in?" _a woman's sweet voice asked.

"No, my father's at work. He should be home in about an hour. May I ask why you are calling?"

"_Oh, um, well…I have some…business with him. Could you tell your daddy to call me back?" _Deciding he didn't like the way he was being talked to like a little kid, Arthur tried to end the conversation.

"Um…sure…bye," Arthur said quickly, hanging up. _That was weird. Why would someone named Sherrill be calling my dad? Hm…_ Arthur pondered the question while he made his way back to his room.

* * *

Connor laid on his bed lazily, flipping through one of his magazines. It wasn't his favorite, but because of the exclusive material inside the actual favorite he only took it out when he was alone. He considered looking through it because he was bored out of his mind, but Dylan, who was doing some kind of project, was in the room so he couldn't do anything _personal_.

"Hey, bro?" Connor asked, looking over at his brother. He received no answer. "Hey, Dylan? Dylan!"

Looking up, the younger brother stared at Connor. "What?"

"I'm bored. What should I do?"

"Do your homework," Dylan replied, getting back to his work.

"Why the hell would I do my homework?"

"So you can graduate high school."

"Oh. I need to do homework to graduate?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well. Still not doing it. It's too late to start now, anyways." Connor gave up and rolled over so he could stare at the ceiling. _Damn it, Dylan! I can't even jerk off when you're in the room! Allistor's at work so I can't bother him…Maybe… _he thought, _I can harass Arthur! _Excited, Connor sat up, smirking.

"Seeya, bro. Gotta go do somethin'." He stood and exited his shared room.

Tiptoeing down the hall, Connor silently made his way to his younger brothers' bedroom. It was relatively quiet until the phone began to ring in the kitchen, but he didn't bother to get it. He came to a halt when he heard Arthur yell.

"Hey, someone get the phone, I'm busy!" Connor slowly backed up, slipping inside a closet, leaving it open a crack. _What's he busy with? I should find out._

Seconds later, Connor watched Arthur storm out of his room and down the stairs, obviously to get the phone, considering no one else in the house would. Taking this as an opening to find out what Arthur was doing, Connor scrambled out of the closet and into the room next door. He closed the door sneakily and looked around. Spotting Arthur's cell phone on his bed, he swiftly snatched it up and inspected it. _Talking on the phone to his little friends, huh? _he thought to himself. _Wait, he has friends? The only one I know about is Alfred. Oh yeah, what happened to him? Whatever. I should just see what his friend wants._

"Okay, I'm back," he said, imitating Arthur's voice almost perfectly. "Let's continue." Connor smirked, knowing this was going to be something interesting.

"_Okay. Tomorrow we should meet at your house, Arthur. This subject is something that should be discussed in person,"_ a soothing voice answered_._

As if it was planned, another voice, quieter than the other, explained. _"Yup! We'll talk about the date and the, well, the kiss."_

"Oh this is gonna be good," Connor said to himself, listening intently.

"_Yes, _very _good."_

"Peter! Get off my leg! You're making me trip up the stairs!" "Oh, crap," Connor whispered. _He's coming._

"_What's wrong?"_

He glanced at the door. "Um, the phone's ringing again and I left it in the kitchen. I'll be right back." Without waiting for an answer, he placed the phone where he found it and stomped around the room, mimicking footsteps.

"But I don't want to!" The voices were right outside the door. Connor surveyed the room quickly, then dove under Arthur's bed. He made a small thump, but that was disguised by the bickering of his younger brothers.

"No. Stop following me."

"_You_ stop following _me_."

"I'm not following you! I'm going to my room."

"So am I! You're following me!"

"Ugh." The door was thrust open and the boys walked in. "Get out. I'm talking with friends." Connor didn't dare peek, but he assumed Arthur made a shooing motion.

"No you aren't! And this is my room too!" This time, Connor assumed Peter stood defiantly and crossed his arms. Almost laughing, he thought, _Wow, who would've thought pretending this stuff was so much fun!_

"Just shut up." There was a shuffle and the bed sunk down considerably lower. _'Arthur plopped down on the bed, exasperated. His stupid kid brother had once again foiled his plans of having a nice long gossipy chat with his girlish friends.' Hey, I'm pretty good at this!_ "Hello? Yes, I'm back." The story in Connor's head continued until he saw a pair of bright blue eyes peering at him. Peter was crouching down, looking straight at Connor and grinning. Connor quickly put a finger up to his lips and shook his head, indicating that the young boy should remain quiet.

"Hey, Arthur," Peter said, almost tauntingly. The mischievous grin on his face widened as Connor shook his head more violently than before.

"What is it, Peter? Go away." Peter giggled, eyes still locked with the green ones under the bed. "What are you laughing at?"

Peter looked away, presumably toward the boy on top of the bed, and said in his most adorable voice, "I farted." He giggled madly and Connor gave him a thumbs up.

Arthur sighed. "It's not that funny, you know. Just get out of here already, you're so annoying!"

"But I want to get my toys!"

"Well they're not under there, that's my bed."

"Oh yeah." Connor could see his tiny sock-clad feet as Peter scampered over to the other side of the room. He reached under the bed and pulled out an assortment of toys, from a miniature submarine to a rather large plastic banana. _Hey, that's _my_ banana!_ Peter threw Connor one last glance as he exited the room, dropping a few colorful blocks in the process.

Connor waited patiently for the right time to make his escape, but it didn't come anytime soon. He didn't mind it all that much, at least for the first half hour. Arthur was still chatting away on the phone, and some of it was interesting.

"-yeah, and that teacher was staring at him the whole time!" Arthur told his friends. The response must have been funny, because he laughed for a good thirty seconds. Then the conversation turned to a lame subject, namely homework.

"-and I have to write _two_ essays by Friday! I know, but I already did the first one. How long are yours? Mine is three pages-" blah blah blah, homework homework homework. Why must his brother be so nerdy?

Connor's patience began to wear thin when his stomach growled for the first time. Luckily Arthur was laughing particularly loud at that time, so the grumble went unnoticed. _If I don't get out of here soon, I'm gonna starve! Like, to death! _He decided eavesdropping further would be pointless, especially if he was caught. He took out his cell phone slowly and opened it, making sure it was silenced. He dialed the home phone number and waited for it to ring downstairs. It did, but only once. Arthur didn't get up. _"Hello?" _said a childish voice. It was Peter. Connor face palmed.

"Peter," he whispered as quietly as he possibly could while still allowing the boy to hear him, "I need you to do something for me."

"_Who is this? Dylan told me not to do favors for strangers. What's your name?" _

"It's me, Connor! I need you to get Arthur to go downstairs. But don't tell him I told you to." He waited for his brother to say something in return.

"_Okay," _he replied, _"what shou-"_

"_Peter, how many times do I have to tell you not to answer the phone?" _another voice interrupted. It was Dylan.

"_I'm sorry, Dylan."_

"_It's fine. Now go play. Hello? Who is this?" _Dylan asked, obviously oblivious as to who was on the other end of the line.

"Hey, bro. It's me Connor. Could yo-" The line went dead. _Damn it, Dylan! Why the hell did you hang up! _

"Hey, Arthur!" a muffled voice called from downstairs. _Yes! Good job, Peter! _"I'm hungry, can you make me an omelette?"

Connor listened as Arthur sighed and was about to reply when he heard Dylan's voice.

"No way in he- cover your ears, Peter, _hell_ are you going to make Peter an omelette after what happened last time!" Connor's stomach growled again but he was sure Arthur didn't hear it, for he was fuming as a result of Dylan's insulting response.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" Arthur screamed right back. Connor decided to cover his ears to shield them from the shouts.

"It means your cooking is so terrible that you gave Peter food poisoning!" Arthur had had it. The mattress lifted slightly as he assumed Arthur violently threw himself off the bed and tore the door open. Waiting a moment to make sure Arthur was gone, Connor hurriedly crawled out from under the bed and dashed to the safety of his room. Sighing in relief, he let himself fall face first onto his bed.

His stomach growled once again. "Aw, crap."


	11. Please No Flash Photography

**A/N: I guess we could call this some character development. And a reminder: don't believe **_**anything**_** Connor says or thinks because he's a bit imaginative. Enjoy.**

* * *

Connor wandered through the house, humming a popish tune. "Hey hey you you duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh." It was Thursday, after school, and he was waiting for the Events to occur. Arthur had told him earlier to let his friends in if they came while he was in the shower.

Plopping down on the couch and flipping open his cell, he gazed at his background. It was a picture of Allistor sleeping, with his red hair stuck to his forehead and a serene smile on his face. He took it a few months ago when his brother was boozed out after a particularly heavy party and kept it as his background ever since. He sighed.

There was a polite knock on the door. "Coming," Connor called, excited for the action to finally begin. He unlocked the numerous locks (which he had locked just in case he was somewhere else when the guests arrived and they wanted to let themselves in) and opened the heavy wooden door. There, standing in the afternoon sun was a short, black haired Asian boy. He held a small bag in one hand and a camera in the other.

"Oh."

"Uh, hello there, Asian." Connor looked him up and down, noting that he was somewhat familiar. _Guess I never really looked at him before. Maybe I should have. He's so tiny! _"How may I help you?"

The boy gave him an odd look. "Good afternoon. May I come in?"

Smiling, Connor replied, "Of course not. What's your name?" He leaned in the doorway and attempted to flirt with this unexpected cutie.

"Um, I'm Kiku Honda." He watched Kiku fiddle with his hands and look at the ground.

He stared at the boy. "Ahem." Kiku glanced up at his face, briefly meeting his eyes. Connor thought he saw a hint of mischief but whatever it was disappeared in an instant.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He tapped the doorframe and continued to look at the Asian. _Damn, is he small! He must feel so-_

"I don't think I am."

"Are you, _Kiku_?"

"No." Connor watched as the shadow of a smile appeared on the other's face.

_Playing dumb! I'll show him. Time to do an Allistor._ "Are you sure?" Connor leaned in close and breathed out through his nostrils, careful to let the warm air brush Kiku's face. "Aren't you forgetting," he moved his lips close to the other's ear, "my name?"

Kiku shivered and jumped back. "I already know your name, Connor. Arthur likes to complain about you." Kiku said this with a straight face, but he was blushing.

Connor stared at him blankly. "Oh." _Well, at least Allistor's trick worked._

"Um, if," the black haired teen gazed up at him with large brown eyes, "if it's any consolation, I don't know your middle name."

Connor laughed. "I don't have a middle name." _I can't believe an innocent looking guy like this would flirt back with me._ "Well, uh, come in, come in." He turned sideways in the doorway and gestured for Kiku to come inside. "You can sit on the couch since Arthur's doing something in his room."

"Thank you. What is he doing in his room?"

He shrugged. "Uh 'unno."

Kiku sat down first, politely perching himself on the left side of the couch. Connor sat right next to him. _Right _next to him. Their knees were touching.

"Soooo…"

"You're making me uncomfortable. Please move away," the Asian said while trying to make himself smaller.

"Well I'm pretty comfortable."

"I think I will go see what Arthur is doing. He is expecting me after all," Kiku said awkwardly, attempting to stand up.

Connor pushed Kiku back down and stood up himself. "No, he's in the shower. Don't want to barge in on him, do you?" He gave Kiku a smirk. The younger boy blushed. "I'll go check if he's done." He ran up the stairs and toward the bathroom door. It was closed and locked tightly. He checked the knob. It was nothing he couldn't pick, having done so many times before, but he just didn't feel like it. He had more important business to attend to, namely the boy sitting downstairs. He dashed back down the hallway and took the stairs two at a time. Kiku was fiddling with the small yet highly advanced camera in his hands and didn't notice the other's return.

"Whatcha doing?" Connor whispered in his ear from behind the couch. Kiku jumped and would have dropped the expensive device if it weren't for the strap that snuggly surrounded his thin wrist.

"Uh, um nothing. I was just waiting. Is Arthur done yet? May I go up to his room?"

"Nope. He said you weren't allowed in his room. He's got secret stuff all over and he doesn't want you in there alone. But don't worry about it, I'll keep you company." By that time Connor had rounded the couch and was once again sitting beside Kiku, a little too close for comfort.

"Oh." Kiku sounded a little disappointed.

There was a knock at the door. Connor ignored it. He leaned closer to Kiku, thoroughly invading his personal space. Another knock sounded, this time louder than before.

"Shouldn't you get that?" Kiku asked, turning towards the door.

"Nope. We don't need anyone else here. Just you and me is good."

"Then I will go answer the door. It must be Matthew." Connor sighed and stood up before Kiku had the chance. It was better he open the door so at least he could send away the knocker. He once again undid all the locks and pulled open the door. A tall boy stood in the doorway. He recognized him.

"Hey Alfred." Connor began closing the door, but the boy spoke up.

"I'm not Alfred. My name is Matthew." The boy spoke quietly, yet had a tone of exasperation in his voice. Connor stared at him, squinting his eyes. Matthew stood awkwardly. "Um, your doorbell is broken. The one at my house is too."

"Actually, I can't remember a time when it did work. Funny, huh? I think Allistor broke it some time ago. That troublesome child. Well, thanks for stopping by. Seeya," Connor said, trying to close the door again.

"Wait! Aren't you going to let me in?" Connor looked through the crack in the door.

"No. Why should I let you in? I don't know you."

"Well, uh, Arthur invited me over so I thought that…" Matthew's voice trailed off. He observed his feet shyly. Looking up slowly, the blond waited for some sort of reply.

"Hm. Fine then. Come in," Connor mumbled, opening the door wider to let the boy inside. Matthew glanced around nervously before spotting Kiku and smiling.

"Kiku!" Connor watched, annoyed at the fact that Matthew decided to plop himself down where he himself had been sitting just moments before. Kiku whispered something to Matthew that Connor couldn't hear.

Irritated, Connor walked over to the pair and stood before them. "_Ahem. _I was sitting there. Plus, this is my house so move it, blondie." He tapped his foot impatiently.

"Oh, um, I'm very sorry. I'll just m-" "What the hell, Connor! Why didn't you tell me that my friends were here!" came Arthur's voice from the top of the staircase. All three boys looked up to see a fuming Arthur. He wore a dark blue shirt, some loose red shorts, and a pair of off-white colored socks. A towel hung around his neck, keeping the water in his hair from dripping onto his clothes.

Before Connor had a chance to respond, Arthur yelled, "Come on, Kiku, Matthew. Leave that idiot and come to my room." The two got up off the couch and strode over to where Arthur was positioned. "I apologize for my brother's behavior. He's a creepy pervert and I can't see how we're related at all."

Connor glared in his brother's direction, watching as Matthew and Kiku left him and went with Arthur. Before the trio disappeared upstairs completely, Connor swore he saw Kiku look back at him. The teen smiled to himself. He knew what he was going to do tonight.

* * *

Arthur stood in front of his younger brother, whose eyes were glued to the computer screen. "Peter, please please _please_ go play somewhere else today. I have my friends over and I want to be alone with them."

Without taking his eyes away from the computer, he said simply, "No."

"Peter! It's my room _and_ my computer! I don't want you to bug us while we talk!"

"Mum said I could play on the 'puter today if I wanted. She said to tell you that in case she didn't get home early."

"No. I don't believe you." Arthur almost stomped his foot, but remembered he had company. "You're not even doing something fun! You're just googling stupid phrases!"

"It's not stupid! I'm learning, like Connor told me!"

"Connor's an idiot. And you've been home for, what," he checked his watch, "ten minutes? You've already settled yourself down at my computer! Don't little kids play outside?"

Peter tore his eyes away from the glow and glared at his brother. "I'm _not _alittle kid."

"Sure looks like it."

"No! If anything," Peter thrust a finger in Kiku's direction, "_he's_ a little kid! Ha ha!" He grinned at this and turned back to the computer.

"Um, Arthur," Kiku interrupted, "maybe we should leave him alone. We could always go to the living room and talk there because it doesn't look like your little brother will allow us to stay here anytime soon."

Arthur sighed but nodded. "It's not like anyone will be interested in our conversation anyway." Grabbing his stuff and leading his friends out of the room, he said, "To the parlor!"

The three settled down in a circle on the floor between the couch and the television. Connor had already shut himself in his room doing who knows what, giving them privacy.

"So let's start planning," Arthur said in a hushed yet not whispering voice. "The date is on Saturday. We don't know what time, but we do know it's at the park. We can assume it's at the one near the grocery store since there aren't any others near here."

"I might be able to find out the time from Alfred tonight. He's not that great at keeping secrets, especially when he's excited." Matthew threw in his suggestion with determination and focus on his face. He was completely enthralled in this scheme of theirs.

"That's good, we need that information. If you can't get it, then we will agree to meet at the park at eight o'clock, alright?" Kiku suggested.

"No, that's too early. Allistor won't wake up until at least noon on a Saturday morning. But I'll watch to see when he leaves the house anyway and I'll call you guys."

"Okay. So about the kiss…" The three continued their low conversation, diligently covering all the details and writing notes. About fifteen minutes of this went on until they heard someone come down the stairs. The boys on the floor went silent and stared at Allistor as he walked past them toward the kitchen, their heads turning slowly with his movement. He stopped and stared back at them.

"What are you all looking at? Arthur, your Asian friend is creeping me out." No one responded, so Allistor continued to the fridge. The boys could still see him through the doorless entryway between the two rooms. He bent down and pulled a bowl full of some brown lumpy food out of the refrigerator and headed back up to his room, not even bothering to get a utensil to eat with.

"We need to keep an eye on him," said Arthur, and the conversation resumed.

Several minutes later, Arthur heard the soft pounding of footsteps and looked up to see Peter skipping over to the couch next to them. He proceeded to find the remote and switch the TV on, flopping down in the middle of the beige cushions. The show that appeared on the screen first was a cartoon that was obviously not meant to be viewed by children. Peter pushed a button and it switched over to that show about teenage girls getting pregnant. After switching the channel a few more times, he settled on an annoyingly bright show with talking animals and rainbows.

"Peter! What are you doing! I came down here with my friends because you were playing on my computer! You can't just come over here and turn on the television! We're trying to concentrate!" Arthur tried to control himself when one of the animals started to sing in an unbearably obnoxious voice.

"Mum said I could watch TV if I wanted to!" Peter said, his gaze not leaving the television screen as he began to wiggle and dance along to the music. He giggled, enjoying every moment of his favorite show.

"Ugh! Kiku, Matthew, let's just go back to my room because it doesn't look like my younger brother is going to leave." The three stood up and shuffled over to the stairs and into Arthur's bedroom.

* * *

_Damn, this closet is small! I can barely move! Ouch! Something's poking me in the ass! Ah ha! A stupid coat hanger! _Connor adjusted himself, shoving the jackets and shirts and various articles of clothing somewhere on the floor. He was currently inside Arthur's closet, as he had seconds before heard Arthur say he was coming upstairs to his room. So, naturally, Connor decided he would spy on them and quickly hid in the closet, where he hoped he wouldn't be caught. He brought his camera in case something interesting happened and so he could have it all recorded to use against his brother later on.

"Shit, shit, shit," he muttered under his breath after stepping on one of Peter's sharp toys. _Children's toys should not be pointy! _Peering through the thin shutters, Connor watched the three younger boys settle in, giving him a good view of the scene.

"Okay then," Kiku started, "shall we continue?"

"Yes, of course. I locked the door so no one can barge right in," Arthur said. Connor snickered. Arthur obviously didn't know what Connor's special talent was. He could pick just about any lock, and he thought his brother would know that by now. _Well, I am sly enough that I wouldn't get caught. _

"Yes, we should get started," the one that looked like Alfred but wasn't Alfred added. _I can't seem to remember his name now. _

"We were talking about the kiss, right?" Connor raised his eyebrow, listening carefully.

"Oh, yes. Well I think that you two should practice once. Just so you can get it right." The dark haired boy looked at the other two blonds in a serious manner.

"D-do we have to?" Matthew asked.

"Yes, do we have to?" Arthur interjected.

"I think it is necessary. Just a quick peck so you know how to do it later." Connor could see Kiku blushing lightly through the tiny opening in the closet. _This is getting interesting, _Connor thought. He readied his camera just in case.

"A-alright. Are you okay with this, Matthew?" Arthur looked at his friend hesitantly.

"Yeah, I-I guess." The two stared at each other for a minute before Kiku spoke up again.

"You should just do it to get it over with," the boy announced. Kiku was positioned so he was facing Arthur, who was sitting near Matthew, but Connor could still see the tiny camera Kiku hid behind his back. Arthur gulped and closed his eyes, as did Matthew. The two leaned in and softly pecked each other on the lips before opening their eyes and looking away. Connor had taken several pictures of this occurrence, and of course Kiku had as well.

"H-how was that? Was it good enough?" Arthur looked at the small Asian. Matthew looked at him also.

"Y-yes. Perfect," Kiku stuttered, extremely red in the face, Connor noted. _Good thing I got pictures!_

Connor gazed at the Asian's face. _He is just like me. We'd get along _very_ well. _Suddenly, Kiku turned his head and Connor thought their eyes met. The closeted boy felt a jolt, and then his own face flush. _Yes. Definitely._

* * *

**A**/**N: Practice for the plan... heh heh...**


	12. Everything's a Little Too Sharp

**A/N: Eeeeeenjoy! No really, please enjoy the deliciousness.**

* * *

_Walking. Yay._ Allistor spit on the ground and shoved his hands in his pockets. He was probably late for their date.

_Alfred. Damn him. Why couldn't we go to the movies or some place where I could make out with him instead of the _park_? That's where twelve-year olds go on dates. Not nineteen and, wait, how old is he?_ He shrugged his shoulders. _Probably Artie's age. Sixteen? Damn._

He continued walking, and before long, he was almost at the park. Before he entered the large, gated area, he straightened his checkered shirt. _I have to look extremely sexy today. I don't want him to look at another guy and stop thinking about me._

Pulling out his phone and flipping it open, Allistor dialed Alfred's number. It rang. And rang. And rang. Then it went to voicemail. He sighed and searched around for a picnic table or bench to sit on. Once he found one that was not covered in gum but was under the morning sun, Allistor laid down and closed his eyes. His phone would wake him when needed. He folded his hands over his stomach and slept.

The scent of peppermint and the soft feeling of another's lips against his brought Allistor back to the waking world. Without opening his eyes, Allistor brought his hands around the other and squished them close.

"Oomf."

Allistor grinned and opened his eyes. He released the boy, sat up, and then pulled him onto his lap. "Hey there, Alfred."

Alfred blushed and smiled, but looked away. "Hi." He attempted to stand, but Allistor held him tight.

Then Allistor started to kiss his neck.

"A-Allistor!" The blond twisted his body around so Allistor wouldn't have access to his neck. Instead, he once again had his face in front of Allistor's. Allistor started kissing that as well.

_This is getting hot._ Allistor moved his hands over Alfred's back and let one settle on his ass. He squeezed it, smirking when the other gasped. "A-Allistor! Stop! We're in the middle of a p-public park!"

Surprisingly, Allistor stopped, but he didn't remove his hands. "Why? I thought you wanted to kiss."

Alfred shook his head. "I, um, I only wanted to, uh, wake you," he murmured, "Sleeping Beauty."

_Oh god._ Allistor mentally blushed, his heart skipping a beat once he realized that no one had ever said something so innocent to him before. "Well, uh," he let Alfred stand up, then stood up himself. "Let's just do our date thing."

The blond smiled, still a little pink in the cheeks. "Okay. What do you wanna do?"

Allistor almost face palmed. "You invited me here. I thought you had something planned."

"I, er, I thought we could figure it out together?" Alfred smiled innocently and awkwardly up at Allistor. Then a familiar tune started to play. One that had the power to mesmerize children day and night. The offending sound increased in volume and caused most of the children in the park to turn their heads toward it in unison. This included Alfred. A truck appeared, driving slowly down the street along the edge of the park. Kids dashed across the grass as fast as their little legs could carry them.

"C'mon, let's get some ice cream!" Alfred burst out, unconsciously grabbing Allistor's hand and pulling him toward the ice cream truck. He carefully weaved between small children and finally made it to the little window where the (creepy) ice cream man would take their order.

"I'll have a scoop of cookies and cream and a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough on a cone," Alfred told the man. "What flavor would you like, Allistor?" Alfred asked. "Hmm, I'll take strawberry on a cone." _Too bad they don't have Alfred flavour. _

"That will be four dollars and thirty-seven cents," said the ice cream man while handing them their cones. Allistor reached for his wallet, but Alfred had beaten him to it. He handed the man the full amount and turned away, aiming for the bench they had been seated at earlier.

"Why did you pay for my ice cream?" Allistor asked, confused. If anything, he should have paid. He was the man in the relationship, after all.

"I invited you here because I wanted to repay my debt for you helping me when I was lost, so obviously I should pay for the ice cream." Alfred said this matter-of-factly without looking at Allistor. They sat down side by side and ate their ice cream. Allistor watched the boy next to him stick his pink tongue out and slide it up the side of the treat, then pull it back into his mouth, swish the taste around, and finally swallow. It was mesmerizing. _That is so hot._

Alfred looked over and asked, "Can I taste yours?" Without waiting for a response, he leaned over and stole a lick of Allistor's strawberry ice cream.

"Hey, I didn't say yes, you know." Alfred smirked triumphantly, as if he had beaten the redhead at something particularly difficult and praise-worthy. "I guess this means I get to try yours." Alfred stubbornly refused and held his cone away from the possible dessert stealer after taking a rather large lick himself. Instead of reaching for the dessert in the hand, Allistor went for the dessert in the mouth. He kissed Alfred, surprising him, and used his tongue to taste the sweetness left on Alfred's teeth. Alfred pulled away, flushed bright red and gasping for air. Allistor didn't let him take in very much oxygen before connecting their lips once again. _He's so delicious!_

"A-Allistor, s-stop," Alfred tried. Allistor ignored the desperate pleas and concentrated on the warmth and flavors of the blond's mouth. He could feel a sticky substance dripping down his hand and decided to stop it. To do this, he had to stop kissing Alfred, which he didn't want to do. He broke the kiss hesitantly. Wiping away the ice cream from his hand with a napkin he didn't remember picking up, Allistor looked over to Alfred again. He sat awkwardly, breathing heavily and barely looking at Allistor. _Oh God, I want him so badly. I just want to slam him on my bed and- No! I can't do that just yet! I have to wait a while. _

Alfred's ice cream had also melted and was all over his hand. Allistor, smirking at what he was about to do, took Alfred's hand and licked up and down his fingers slowly.

"W-wha!" Alfred tried to pull his hand away, blushing madly. Satisfied with the boy's reaction, Allistor finished sucking the sweet treat off and let go of the blond. "W-why did you do that! Can't you see that people are staring!" It was true, a few people were staring in their direction. The redhead grinned before bringing his lips to Alfred's ear.

"All the better," he whispered. He laughed as the embarrassed boy turned away to finish his not-so-frozen-anymore snack.

Allistor decided to finish his as well. He licked up the frozen strawberry chunks with gusto and occasionally glanced at Alfred. They finished their ice cream at about the same time. Alfred offered to throw away their garbage.

"Go ahead," Allistor said, and he watched the blond walk off to the green garbage can swarming with bees. He laughed amusedly as Alfred swatted at the insects and danced around the trash disposal.

Once Alfred had successfully thrown away the trash, he came sprinting back and collapsed on the bench next to Allistor.

"I thought I was gonna die! Those bees were everywhere! One tried to fly up my nose!" Alfred panted for a minute and then turned to the boy next to him. "Did you see me?"

"Yes. I did." _I saw your ass._ Allistor smiled as he thought. _This kid is so childish._ "Anyway, what are we going to do now? I didn't think we'd eat so early so…"

"Oh, of course! We could, um," Alfred paused, and put on a thinking face. After a good minute or two, he snapped his fingers and stood up, grinning. "You decide! I invited you, but it's more gentlemanly to let the wo- other choose."

Deciding to ignore Alfred's slip-of-the-tongue, and obviously incorrect statement, the redhead replied, "The bathroom."

"Okay!" Alfred jumped up excitedly. "Let's- bathroom?"

Allistor stood up as well. "Yes. Are you coming?"

"Why would you go to the _bathroom_?"

"Maybe because I need to piss?"

"Oh, right. Uh, I'll stay here."

Allistor turned to leave but then stopped. "Are you sure? It might take a while."

"Uh…" Alfred twiddled his thumbs.

"I'm kidding. Stay here and don't run off with any strangers." He pushed the blond down on the bench and went to relieve his bladder.

Dank as the bathroom was, he still heard a surprising amount of panting. "Damn it, people, can't you fuck each other somewhere _clean_? I mean, c'mon, making love in a public bathroom that smells like someone took a shit, ate the shit, threw it up, then ate it again and left it in a nice steaming pile? Man, I don't even wanna expose my dick to _piss_ in this air it's so bad."

It was quiet for a moment before Allistor heard some rustling and a deep voice speak. "Geez, you didn't have to make a speech about it."

"Actually, I did have to. Now get the fuck out of here or I'll call the… park rangers on you." Allistor walked out the door, too disgusted to do his business in the actual bathroom. He found a side of the building that was mostly secluded and peed there instead.

Pulling up his pants with a satisfied sigh, Allistor thought, _Now, time to get back to Alfred._

* * *

Arthur, Kiku, and Matthew stood behind a tree, watching as children gathered around an ice cream truck. They had just begun their espionage due to technical difficulties, namely in communication. Matthew's cell phone ran out of battery, so the other two couldn't call him to ask where he was. They had spent at least half an hour trying to find each other (it was a big park).

The three huddled behind the tree and stood silently as they watched Allistor and Alfred walk toward a bench, ice creams in hand.

"Are we all ready?" Kiku asked, turning to his friends. Matthew gave him a nervous nod, but Arthur didn't move. He wasn't paying attention to anything but the scene on the bench. He felt a pang in his heart as his brother kissed Alfred. They weren't _just_ kissing, they were _making out_. There's a difference. Arthur couldn't take it. He looked at Matthew and a new determination formed.

"We have to make this convincing," he stated.

"O-okay," Matthew said, slightly disturbed by the look on Arthur's face. All three looked back to the bench. The two continued to make out with no sign of stopping.

"Okay. Let's go, Matthew." Arthur grabbed the taller boy's hand. Matthew blushed and was tugged out from behind the tree and into the open. An empty space. Where anyone could see them. Anyone. What would they think? What if someone from school was there, and they saw it, and they started spreading gossip, and, and, and- _Calm down! It's all going to work out! I just have to stop thinking and do this! Then it will be over and I'll have gotten what I wanted and everyone will forget about it._

Arthur led Matthew by the hand with a renewed vigor and a tighter grip. Once they were close enough to Alfred and Allistor they slowed down a bit and strolled through the grass, still holding hands. The fingers grasping his were warm and shaking, but Arthur put it out of his mind. This was not the time to think of trivial things that would only be a hindrance. It would be best to concentrate solely on the task at hand. Now he had to kiss Alfred's brother, just like Alfred was kissing his brother. Arthur watched carefully for the right moment. _It's time. When Alfred sees us he'll freak out. That'll teach him!_ The other two parted. _Now! _He turned his face up nervously to taller boy. He pressed his lips tentatively to Matthew's. He could feel that Matthew was startled because he just stood still for a moment, but then went with the plan and grabbed at Arthur's sides.

The pair stood there, kissing intensely for about ten seconds. Until Arthur opened one eye. He saw that their targets weren't even looking at them. In fact, no one was looking at them. All the bystanders were staring at Allistor and Alfred. He pulled away from Matthew, who was quite flushed, and watched in disbelief as his brother sucked on Alfred's fingers very suggestively. He and Matthew were practically invisible.

They had failed. Their plan had failed. It was all for nothing.

* * *

**A/N: The long awaited date! …and failure.**

**I know we hinted at it, but is it just us or does the ice cream truck come only when it's dark? Around here (NY) it seems to come at eight or later :s kinda creepy**

**Thanks for reading!**


	13. The Flipside of the Photo

**A/N: We finally get to hear Alfred's side of the story. Filling in plotholes. Yay!**

* * *

Alfred was in a good mood that couldn't be beat. He stood whistling in the gorgeous afternoon sun waiting for Allistor to come back from his yellow journey. "Hehe, yellow journey. I'm a genius!"

It was a few minutes before Alfred spotted his lovely _friend_. His red hair shone brilliantly and Alfred was once again reminded of how handsome this man was. He looked down at his lap. There was something about Allistor that made him think of Arthur. Maybe it was the eyebrows. Or the eyes. Alfred closed his own. _I don't think I should think about Arthur while- while on a _date _with his _brother.

For the first time Alfred realized what he was doing. He was dating his best friend's- _former_ best friend's- brother. His older, sexy, extremely charming brother.

And Arthur, sweet, cute, stubborn Arthur… He was leaving him in the dust. _But that doesn't matter, does it? Allistor is better than him. I bet if I sent Allistor a picture of me he'd reply right away and understand what I mean. Not that I'd want to be just friends with him but…_

Alfred was brought back to the day that felt like so long ago.

* * *

Eight twelve in the morning. No way he was getting any sleep. Alfred lay in his bed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. The dirty gray ceiling he'd been staring at for the last seven hours. He sat up, his back sore from being in one position for so long.

He sighed. The fantasies of making things perfect between him and Arthur weren't as good as the real thing. He knew he had to do something to fix this. But he had a problem: he didn't know how.

That's when he realized he could ask somebody. Not just one somebody, though, a whole bunch of somebodies. And he wouldn't even have to tell them his name.

Stiffly, Alfred got up from his bed and crossed his messy room to the computer. He swiped his arm across the desk and a dozen or so pieces of garbage fell to the floor. He started forming the question in his mind, taking care to phrase it well.

_OK guys, so I'm in a bit of a pickle. And I know my explanation is long, but please read it. I really need your help! So, I have this friend and he's my best friend but I feel like he's being stolen away by this other guy who's been his friend since like kindergarten. Oh we're 16 now, just so you know. But this other guy, he's been acting kind of strange lately, or at least I only noticed it lately. Like maybe he wants my friend all to himself. I get that they've been friends forever and I butted in to their relationship a little but I don't wanna share him because I kind of feel like he's all mine, you ever have that feeling? Where you just wanna keep someone all to yourself and spend all your time with them and not let anyone else have them? Well I feel like that whenever I see him and ugh I just wish the other guy would just stop trying to steal my friend away! He's not that bad of a friend really but he's trying to take my friend all for himself. Now to the real point: what should I do to strengthen our friendship and make him like me more than his other friend? I feel kind of guilty wanting to do this but I can't help it! He's such a good friend and my dad always tells me to trust my feelings and my feelings tell me to not let him be taken by this other guy. And what's even worse is that I think that if I don't do something now we won't be friends anymore! So please please please tell me what I should do to keep my friend! Please please pretty please with sugar on top respond! I need to know quickly or it might be too late!_

_~the hero_

Yes, that was good. He'd use that. He typed it up quickly in the site (The Place Where Your Problems Get Answered©) and submitted it.

For the next two hours Alfred continually refreshed the page. Each time there was a new answer, he read it thoroughly and took the advice into mind. There were a couple good intentioned answers:

_Oh, silly little boy. Answer is easy. Take annoying boy into house and tie him up in basement for few days. Beat him until he agrees to not have any contact with boyfriend. If he contacts him after that, beat him some more. Good luck and have fun! _^J^

_I know that one, the hero! Here's what you have to do: invite him over for a home cooked meal! Everyone loves it when someone makes them a big dinner from the heart~ Especially if it's Italian themed because Italian food is the best! It's so romantic too! He'll definitely like you better after that! Maybe you could even invite the other boy too and have the meal together! Everything will be A-OK after that! Just remember, don't buy the cheap pasta! Hope everything goes well~~_

_i know that feeling bro.. try talking to him about how you feel, don't be shy. if u consider him as a friend feel free to tell all your emotions regarding to this issue... communication is the answer.. try this and you ll thank me then :))_

_No, no, no! Those answers are ridiculous! That is not what you should do at all. I don't think you even know what friendship is for, do you? It is not about what _you_ feel, it is about making the other person happy. In order to make the other person happy, you have to make them feel good. What is it that people do to make themselves feel good? Looking at really sexy pictures!_

_This is what you'll need to do. 1. Take off all your clothes. 2. Pretty yourself up. Trim your 'hair' a little and maybe put some makeup on to accentuate your features. Make yourself as big as possible ;). 3. Set your camera up in the right direction. If you can't get it right, ask another friend to help you. I'm sure they'd be delighted. 4. Pose in the sexiest way you can imagine and shoot away! 5. Send them to your friend. Make sure you don't accidentally send them to your father (I did that once - it was terrible…)! 6. When he responds positively, send him more pictures on a regular basis. That will make your friendship last for a long time!_

_You idiot, don't listen to any of them! Their 'advice' is retarded shit! Obviously, if your friendship is falling apart, you have to end it first. You might as well make a clean cut with that bastard when there's no way to save it. You don't need anyone but yourself._

There were also bad answers that didn't even try to help him. They either called him faggot, though he didn't mind that because he knew they were all idiots, or asked him to be the answerer's girlfriend. C'mon, girlfriend? He didn't sound girly in that at all! Couldn't they tell that he was a young boy in desperate need of advice that could save him from a miserable life alone without his bestest friend?

Whatever. Those useless people sucked. The only thing he could do now was try out some responses. He wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything until his best friend was once again at his side and his side alone.

First was the advice that told him to use force, but he could go to jail for that! Then where would his friendship be? Of course a couple of Arthur's brothers were delinquent-like, but they didn't go to jail. He just knew that Arthur wouldn't visit him in the slammer, not even once. Plus, the author of the response was kind of creepy-sounding, as if he would be delighted to see Alfred do exactly what he had suggested. At least he had good intentions and actually gave a real answer that didn't criticize him.

So the first choice was out. Next was a nice dinner. _Hmm, everyone _does _like food…_ Yes. He'd follow the food suggestion exactly.

After searching his pockets, Alfred decided he could make do with his own interpretation instead. Buying food was expensive. That's why he made Mattie do it.

He raided the cabinets. There he found an open box of angel hair pasta. It didn't seem like much was missing, so he decided to use it. He set it down on the counter and dove back into the cabinet, searching for more ingredients. A jar of red tomato sauce appeared behind a rather large can of chicken noodle soup, so he grabbed it and placed it beside the pasta. The fridge became his next target, where he found a pound or so of raw hamburger meat. Spaghetti and meatballs.

He put a pot of water on the stove to boil and began preparing the meatballs. He took a handful of meat and rolled it around between his hands until it was perfectly round, then put it in a pan. In total he made ten spheres of meat, which he cooked perhaps a little too long. Once the water came to a rolling boil he dumped in the contents of the pasta box, watching as they loosened up and began twisting and tangling.

Alfred decided that the pasta and meatballs could manage on their own, so he began gathering the silverware to set the table. He managed to get the table set up before he burned anything.

As soon as he finished putting the food on the plates and coke in the cups, he called up Arthur.

"_Hello?_"

"Er, hi." How did Arthur pick up the phone that quickly? Alfred hadn't even prepared his question yet.

"_Hi there. Why are you calling me now? Don't you sleep in 'til at least noon on the weekends?_" Arthur laughed, and Alfred laughed with him.

"Ha ha, yeah… But today is special. I need you to come over to my house right now."

"_What? Why? Why right now? I have Kiku over. We're gonna do some homework together._"

"But- I can't tell you. It's a surprise. You have to some over _right _now."

The tone of Arthur's voice changed. "_You know I don't like surprises. And I can't. I'm busy._" Alfred could hear another person speaking faintly, but couldn't make out the words.

"But I _need_ you to come over _right _now."

"_Can't I come tomorrow? I really can't go today._" Again he heard someone else speaking.

"This can't wait until tomorrow. Please, Arthur? Pretty please?"

There was a moment of silence before he heard a heavy sigh. "_Alright, Alfred. I'll be over soon._"

"Okay," he said, "butmakesureyoudon'tbringKiku." Then he hung up.

It was almost an hour before Arthur showed up. The food was already cold by then, and Alfred was sitting at the table, nervous all over. When he heard the door open, he jumped up and ran to the living room, previous thoughts forgotten.

"Arthur! You're here! I thought you stood me up for Ki- here, look. Come with me." He grabbed Arthur by the elbow and started to lead him to the tiny dining room.

"Wait, what do you have to show me? If it's another one of those stupid wa-" Arthur stopped.

Alfred released him and glided over to the table, sitting down. "Well?" he said, "Do you like it?"

"What, what is this?" Arthur slowly walked over to the table but didn't sit down.

He beamed. "I made it myself. For you."

Arthur fingered the loose silverware. "What do you mean?"

"What do _you _mean?" Not quite confused, he tried to elaborate. "I made dinner for us to share together. So we can enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal together. So we can have a- what was that?" Arthur had mumbled something while Alfred was speaking. He looked at Arthur, whose face was turned down, for a moment before repeating the question. "What was that, Arthur?"

The upright boy whispered again.

"I'm sorry, Arthur. Speak up. Did you," he chuckled, "did you play with Matthew today? 'Cause you know he's always so… Arthur?"

Arthur's gaze still met the floor, but his face was turning red. All of a sudden his head jerked up and he glared at Alfred. "Are you doing this," he paused and took a breath as if it was hard for him to speak, then continued, whispering, "to make fun of me?"

Shocked, Alfred jumped out of his seat and knocked it over. "What? No!" He hastily stood up the chair and sat back down.

"Really," Arthur said. "So you invite, no, force me over to your house at eleven in the morning and refuse to tell me what's going on, making me rudely dismiss the friend I planned a day together with over a week ago, then I find myself here and you don't even greet me properly and then you drag me into your dining room, no questions answered, and _then_ you tell me you made dinner, all by yourself, just for me, when you know how I feel about coo- and then you just- this, this doesn't even look that good! In fact, it looks terrible! And dinner at eleven in the freaking morning? It's barely lunch time!"

"Arthur-"

"Just shut up, Alfred. I'm leaving."

Alfred watched as Arthur stomped away. He vaguely heard the door close, surprised it wasn't slammed shut.

"Arthur…"

He'd dumped the meal. _Whoosh_. Straight in to the trash. He'd poured the drinks in the sink and tossed the plates there too. Then Alfred had gone up to his room for a nice long think.

His dad had knocked on the door once or twice but Alfred had sent him away. No way would he be able to concentrate on his next move if he wasn't in his own private thinking space.

It took him a short while but he finally came to a good conclusion. He would combine the last two reasonable suggestions and hope for the best.

So he'd set up his room all nice and neat and snapped some pictures. He did his best to look good, but, too ashamed to actually look at them, he took a quick peek at each just to make sure they weren't blurry. He'd ended up deleting quite a few because of his shaking. Alfred knew if he wasn't sending them to Arthur he'd have a much easier time.

_All I have left to do is tell him now. We'll get back to talking like real buds and then I'll send them and he'll probably be really pleased and then everything will turn out better._ Alfred smiled to himself. He would have his best friend back in no time.

Alfred had typed up a half page apology email for Arthur. In it he explained his feelings about how Arthur had reacted to his simple dinner and the attitude he was given. He explained that he only made the meal because he wanted Arthur to feel special and show his appreciation for their friendship.

There was a painful two hour wait before Arthur responded, accepting his apology. Arthur did what he always did when he was in the wrong and put the blame on someone else but Alfred didn't mind. He knew what Arthur's intentions were.

They got carried away in conversation for the rest of the evening and Alfred had just about decided to delete the photographs until Arthur started to talk about Kiku.

Alfred sent the pictures then, knowing it'd shut Arthur up about the other boy. It worked, and Arthur's reply of straight up keyboard mashing was proof. He'd been flabbergasted at how seriously Alfred was taking their friendship. Alfred replied immediately, proud that he had gotten such a response.

It was torture waiting for Arthur to respond, but Alfred did it. He read the new email with relish. His insides felt all hot and his head felt light. Arthur obviously wanted to discuss the implications of Alfred's email in person. Otherwise why would he have said _see you later_? Or wrote it in such a way?

_k dude_, he replied, _talk 2 u l8r. hope u sleep well ;))_

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for staying with the story for 13 chapters! Stay tuned for next week's update!**


	14. Liquefied Panorama

**A/N: Sorry for being three days late! Here are our excuses: On Tuesday we forgot. On Wednesday and Thursday the internet refused to work on this virusy computer and we had all sorts of other technical difficulties. We'll still keep the 8 day schedule and pretend that we posted on time so you will hopefully see chapter 15 next Wednesday. **

**PA/N (post authors' note): Have fun reading!**

* * *

A curse almost slipped out of Arthur's mouth before he realized where he was. _I can't even get swearing right! Bah!_ He glanced at Matthew. The boy smiled weakly and patted his arm. They were only inches apart still and could easily attempt to get Alfred and Allistor's attention again.

"Thanks, Matthew, but I think-" He stopped himself when he saw Kiku hurriedly rushing over.

"You did a great job! Don't worry, we'll try again," Kiku reassured the fake couple while slipping his camera into the back pocket of his pants. "All is not lost. They'll have to notice you at some point."

"Right!" Matthew said, energized. "We could get in position near that building! Who knows where they'll go so-"

"I'd rather go home," Arthur interrupted. "I don't want to try again today. I feel like I'm about to get a major headache."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Arthur. But this is our only chance! If we can't do it now, when will we? Arthur," Matthew pled, "I think we should try one more time today, at least."

Kiku nodded. "Yes, but if Arthur isn't all right while it happens, won't he not feel as accomplished as when he was in his right mind?"

"Right," said Arthur, jumping at the opportunity. "I don't think we'd even be able to do anything because my headaches are terrible. I can't think or eat or sleep or do anything besides wait for them to go away."

Matthew seemed to see the implications of a second attempt. "Sometimes it's best to quit while you're ahead, I guess."

Arthur smiled and winced, clasping his head. "So we'll go home and maybe later, if I'm feeling better, I'll call you guys so we can make a new rough plan for next time. Sound good?"

Kiku and Matthew agreed and the three parted. It would be best to start making a stronger and better plan to be enacted at any time. After all, they didn't have any way of knowing when the next opportunity would arise.

* * *

_Fuck, that kid walks fast_, Connor thought as he hurried to follow the black haired boy who had just left the park.

Connor had been 'observing' the events at the park all day. Well, not exactly all day because he had woken up late and barely managed to get to the right place.

_What is he doing? It's not like he has anywhere to go! Well actually- oh shit, he stopped._ Connor slowed himself, almost stopping altogether and pulled on an innocent expression. He glanced around the street to sneakily take a look at Kiku. His feet froze the instant their eyes met.

Then he grinned, an Allistor grin, and his feet melted and started moving again. He moseyed down the street toward Kiku, maintaining their eye contact the whole way. Kiku didn't move an inch.

When Connor was just a few feet away Kiku spoke. Connor could hear the tension in his voice. "Why have you been following me?"

"Woah, cut straight to the chase, don't you?"

"I have pepper spray. We're on a public street. Tell me now."

"What? What makes you think I'd- oh." Kiku threateningly placed a hand in one of his pockets where Connor could clearly see a cylindrical bulge. "Alright, alright. I've been following you for a little bit. Since you turned the last corner. I saw you, your hair stands out you know, and I thought, wow isn't that Arthur's friend? Maybe I should go say hi." He smiled crookedly.

Kiku moved to remove the spray.

"Ah, actually I've been tailing you for quite a while now. Since the park," Connor amended. "No need to use that. It's nasty stuff when it gets right in your eye."

Kiku stopped the action but kept his hand in the pocket. Not amused in the least, he said, "I _know _you've been stalking me since the park. Stop giving me information I already have and tell me why."

_Man, he didn't have to say it so coldly. _Connor decided it was best to stop goofing off. He assumed the business-like and openly negotiative posture that convinced too many people to give him one last chance. "I would like to help you get your revenge."

* * *

Allistor felt relieved. Literally. It always felt really nice to pee after holding it in for so long. As he returned to the bench where he had left his little Alfred he noticed the boy sitting calmly, almost sullenly on the hard wood, staring down at the ground between his feet. Allistor would have loved to change that sad expression to something a little more erotic, but he was interrupted by a short vibration in his pocket. His phone. He should have remembered to turn it off before leaving for his date. He continued on to Alfred and sat beside him, his left arm snaking around the still unfocused boy's waist.

_BUZZ._ His phone went off again. It was really beginning to frustrate him. If only to know the identity of his disruptor, he used his unoccupied right hand to remove the device from his pocket and flipped it open. _Two new messages._ They were both from Gil.

The first one said this: _where r u ur late! u were suposed 2 b here 10 mins ago!_

The second: _also liz said if ur late again ull get the earliest shift so hury up_

Allistor groaned. _Damn it, I forgot about work! _"Alfred, date's over. I gotta go in to work. I forgot I have the afternoon shift today. But don't be disappointed," he soothed, leaning in close to Alfred's face, reaching for his lips. Alfred turned away at the last moment, but Allistor pulled his face back and gave him a goodbye kiss. The usually energetic boy just sat there, unmoving. "As I said, don't be disappointed. We can continue this later." He used a seductive tone that allowed for no misunderstandings as to _exactly_ what he was referring to.

Still Alfred didn't say a word. Shrugging off the sudden unusual behavior, he set off at a leisurely pace toward the café. He was already late and there was nothing he could do about it, so why rush? He'd get there eventually, and it's not like he'd be fired. It was rare that he showed up late for work since he really wanted to keep at least _this _job. Previous ones hadn't worked out so well.

When he arrived twenty minutes later he started business as usual, punching in, changing, then eventually getting around to taking people's orders. He always took a little longer to get around to waiting on the tables where rude, annoying, or ugly people sat.

Speaking of annoying people, one was standing just inside the door. Roderich didn't seat himself at his usual table. He just stood there with his annoyingly stiff posture and wearing his annoyingly dressy clothes.

"Why don't you sit down? That table over there is open. You should know by now to seat yourself," Allistor pointed out, irked by a combination of the unusual behavior and that one curl on the top of the overly proper man's head that always stood up no matter how slick the rest of his hair was.

The man hesitated before speaking, looking as if he was embarrassed and excited at the same time. "I- I'm waiting for Elizaveta. We're going out." Allistor was slightly surprised, but only because he hadn't imagined the shy man to ever take action on his blatantly obvious crush. Actually, it was probably Elizaveta who had made the first move. That made a lot more sense.

"Wait, Elizaveta, you didn't tell me what you needed to dress so sexy for!" Gilbert called after her as they both emerged from a back room, Elizaveta walking hurriedly in her heels and sleek red dress and Gilbert chasing closely behind. She smiled as she reached Roderich, a sweet smile without malice or mischief that her employees never saw. Then she turned around and tossed a giant ring of keys at Gilbert, who barely kept them from falling to the waxed wooden floor after rocking backward from the initial impact and fumbling with the catch.

"I trust you two to lock up the place tonight. I'm going out and I don't want to be disturbed. Unless something catches on fire, which better not happen. Oh, and forget about the show tonight. Close up just before then. I won't leave you two unsupervised for _that_. Bye!" She grabbed her date's arm and pulled him through the door, leaving two stunned employees holding a set of keys and the responsibility of a café. She trusted them with that?

"Woah, Gil, those keys weigh almost as much as you do," Allistor announced upon seeing the large bulk of metal sitting in those pale white hands.

Allistor only smirked when Gilbert shot a nasty look at him. In unison they walked back to the middle of the café. The redhead sat down on a bar stool facing the, for the most part, empty tables. He caught Gilbert doing the same out of the corner of his eye.

It was quiet in the café for a moment while Allistor started to space out, gazing out the window as if in a daze. He watched the strangers pass by without a care in the world. Little kids and old people, teenagers and adults. A young woman across the street stopped and pulled out a camera, snapping a few shots of something Allistor couldn't see before returning it to her bag. _Foreigner, huh. There isn't anything particularly interesting in this town that a tourist would want to photograph. Heh, photographs. _Allistor's mind began to drift elsewhere and the people outside continued to march on with their busy lives.

Allistor felt a painful jab in his side and whipped his head around to discover that it was Gilbert's elbow that had created said pain. "What's with the face you're making, thinking about porn again?" the crimson-eyed male teased. "Or maybe your little boyfriend? Or," although Allistor had turned away and wasn't looking, he could tell that Gilbert had a wicked grin of sorts plastered on his face by the way the tone of his voice changed near the end of his sentence, "or maybe you're thinking of fucking your little boyfriend?"

"Maybe," Allistor brought his face close to Gilbert's, "maybe I'm thinking about fucking you." The ridiculous grin returned to Gilbert's face and he cackled loudly.

"Why would you be thinking about that?" Gilbert breathed. Their faces were so close together, inches apart. He closed his eyes for just a second and continued, "why would you be thinking about me?"

"Shuddup." The redhead kissed him, forcefully, crushing their lips together.

Surprised, Gilbert fell backwards on his stool.

"Don't you run away from me, too," Allistor said, catching him. Allistor laughed and pulled him forwards on the stool. "You're as light as a feather."

Gilbert laughed too and was struck with a wicked idea. He glanced around the café. _Good, _he thought, _only one straggler._ He jumped off his stool and walked briskly to the door. There he changed the sign to _CLOSED_.

"Oi, we still have two hours until closing. What're you doing?"

The albino turned around and approached the lone customer. "Sir, we're closing soon, so…"

The customer glanced up from his nearly empty mug and at Gilbert, then Allistor, then back to Gilbert. He humphed. "Sure, sure."

"What're you doing, Gil?" Allistor repeated, still on the stool.

There was an obvious skip in his step as Gilbert walked up to him. "You're coming over to my place for the night." He rested his hands on Allistor's thighs. "No objections."

"Why would I object to that? It sounds like a sexy idea." Allistor removed Gilbert's hands and got up. "You. You should leave now." He pointed to the customer and then the door. "Get."

"Al, you don't have to be rude! He won't come back if you do that." _Not like I wouldn't have done the same thing myself. Oh god, I'd probably slam him down on the bar right now if we were alone…_

Allistor gave him the look that said he knew everything Gil was thinking.

"Ya horny kids," the customer coughed, startling them. "I see the way you're lookin' at each other. Don't forget to use a condom. Don't want that AIDS shit."

"…yeah."

With that last remark the customer left.

Within moments of the door closing Gilbert was caught in a rough embrace. Allistor had his hands all over Gilbert's back and ass and anything in his reach. He kissed him in that classic Allistor way, with unrestrained lust and ferocity. They were soon pressed up against a sturdy surface, a table, and Gilbert let himself lean against it. Allistor put his hand on the edge of the table to steady himself too and suddenly it gave. The two fell over the overturning furniture with a terrible clang. The noise of the crash echoed throughout the entire café.

The young cook came running through the kitchen doors the moment the noise subsided. The other one too, but he wasn't as hurried.

"Holy fuck. What happened? Are you guys okay?" The young cook almost tripped over himself to help the pair up.

"Oh, you know, the usual. We were trying out a new wrestling move and the table didn't like it so much. Right, Allistor?" Allistor muttered a _yep_. "And it's no problem, we can get up ourselves."

"Okay," Alejandro said, "but I can at least right the table, no?"

* * *

It didn't take Allistor and Gilbert five minutes to clean up and leave the Only. They had given the keys to the other cook, the tall and quiet one, and entrusted him with the duty of locking up. Alejandro had pouted at that but was consoled with the job of punching their cards at the right hour. Sure, it was a little unfair to treat the kid like well, a kid, but that was what he was.

By the time they got in the car their lust had not faded. Gilbert tried not to speed but it was almost impossible not to. The excitement of having Allistor- Allistor who now had a boyfriend- for the night was frightening. _I guess it just runs in the family then._

* * *

**A/N: We almost used the word "sexilicious" but decided not to, although it was a difficult decision. It's not just that it technically not a word (you'll find at least one such made up word in this chapter), it just didn't seem like Allistor would use it. Maybe Gilbo, but not Allistor.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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